Kari's Story
by La-Femme-Feline
Summary: Based off a Max Ride OC of my best friend, meet Kari. She's an avian hybrid, just like the rest of the Flock. Her story is far different from theirs, but involves the Flock all the same. IggyXOC Fax
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

(Kari's .)

A troubling feeling wormed its way through my ridiculous dream of happily eating ice cream with Derrick and my parents. That is if I knew what they looked like. No, these were people were just images, people that seemed to portray my parents. I had no parents in the real world, and if I did, I didn't even know them. I mentally sighed and resumed licking my spoon of vanilla ice cream. I totally knew this was a dream; it was too perfect and happy and undisturbed by wolf man killers. Soon I would wake up and my fanciful illusion would come to an end. I might as well have asked for the moon to speak to me rather than have this perfect scene be real life.

My imaginary mother interrupted my brooding and asked, _"Are you enjoying your sundae?"_

_"Very much, Mom. Thanks," _I replied, trying to ignore the creeping feeling of unease in my chest. Go away, dread. I'm trying to enjoy myself 'till I have to go back to my living nightmare. Leave. Now.

_"Honey, we have to leave soon to be able to see the fireworks,"_ my nonexistent father said, rumpling my red hair cheerfully, _"Hurry up and finish your ice cream."_ A blank white light fuzzed out my dad's image. I knew I'd be awake soon.

_"Mom, Dad, I have to go now. Sorry. Bye." _I said as I opened my eyes in the real world. Logs were the first thing I saw. I began thinking again. Derrick and I fell asleep in an abandoned cabin in Alabama last night. We escaped from the Academy in Texas a couple of days ago. And I woke up because of. . . ERASERS! I don't know how I knew, but I did. It's like a sixth sense when it comes to Erasers. I think it's their awful smell.

Anyway, I practically flew out of my 'bed' in the corner of the dilapidated cabin and shook Derrick, my older (and more ignorant) brother. "Derrick! Wake up! The Erasers are here! Get up! We have to get out of here!" I whispered as I hurriedly pushed him up off the floor. Derrick rose, slowly and unsteadily, looking ready to fall back asleep at any given moment. Yep, that's my brother. Lazy, loud (When he's awake AND asleep. I mean, have you HEARD him snore? It's like bombs going off. That's why I just love my earplugs), and has to get everything his way.

"Whasit?" He mumbled drowsily.

"Erasers! Run! Go!" I said as I shoved him toward a patch of stars in a blank place in the ceiling. Without much warning, a crash made the few remaining roof beams shake violently. I whipped my head around to see what had made the sound. It wasn't that surprising, it's just shocking sometimes cuz you're like 'Whoohoo, I've escaped the hellhole of a place I've lived in for much of my life and -- look there are Erasers tracking me. Joy.' Can't I get a rest? Anyhow, there, standing in the pre – dawn light, was an Eraser.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Eraser!" Derrick screamed shrilly.

"No duh, moron. That's what I've been telling you," I said, edging subtly towards the hole in the roof. "When I count to four, make a break for it," I whispered.

Derrick, already freaking out (Oh, I didn't mention he's a coward? Well, now you know.), made a dash for a window and got thrown into a wall by an Eraser. Derrick got off the floor achingly. He was ALWAYS doing that. I may be younger, but I'm the smarter and more efficient one. He should listen before he kills himself. I'm getting tired of saving his butt too. How many times have I? WAY too many. Derrick rubbed a tender spot on his head and rejoined me.

"That had to be the most absolutely hilarious thing I have ever seen," I said, snickering, "Did you see your face?"

"Shut up," Derrick said, giving me a dirty look (which, of course, I had to return), "And start counting." He looked warily at another Eraser, which had come in through the first Eraser's hole in the wall, looking around.

"One . . ." I murmured, as the posse of Erasers eyed me. "Two . . ." I said as the Erasers started morphing. "Three . . ." The Erasers were almost fully morphed. "Four!" I yelled. I threw myself into the air and snapped open my crimson wings with expertise. "Derrick! Let's go!" I yelled, putting my arms above my head so I could bust through an annoying beam. But ouch, splinters!

Derrick awkwardly unfolded one ugly mud - brown wing and then the other. (I cannot TELL you how many times we've almost been killed because of his sluggishness. But he can't fly well; I guess I'm the natural born flyer in the extremely small family.) By that time, the Erasers were rushing toward Derrick, holding their guns. "Hey guys! Up here!" I shouted, chucking pinecones that I had gotten from a nearby tree (more splinters!) at the Erasers, "You're after me! Not him! Right?" I expertly thwacked an Eraser between the eyes. Bull's eye!

They all raised their guns at me. I saw with some satisfaction that Derrick had managed to finally get in the air and was now some distance away. He knew where to go. We had already planned the whole thing out. We'd found a pile of rocks beforehand and had found a fissure – like cave to hide in incase the favored trio of Erasers that were at the Academy found us because we had escaped. Suddenly, a racing pain ripped through my left wing.

I gasped in dismay and faltered. They shot me! Those sons of a—something? I spiraled painfully downward to the forest floor only a few yards away from the cabin. I may not be able to fly, but I am able to run! I ran off, folding my wings halfway against my spine.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

As I raced through the forest, I could hear the Erasers not far behind. (Clunky and noisy beasts; they are SO not designed for stealth.) Branches and plants whipped my body, but I stumbled on, wincing. Bullets tore through the forest, some hitting trees, some hitting the ground, and some . . . hitting their target. Me.

I cried out as the metal projectiles mutilated my beautiful wings. One (good luck for the idiot who shot it at me, I guess) hit the edge of my leg, causing me to fall and gaze horror – struck at my misfortune. Blood oozed from my leg. I couldn't run, I couldn't fly, so I mind as well deliver myself back to the Academy with a stamp on my forehead. I was as good as dead.

I could hear the Erasers behind me, excited at their prize. I practically heard their nice boots going galumph, galumph, galumph through the forest. I jerked my head around and punched the lead Eraser of the trio as hard as I could. I already knew who it was, Jakob. His head reeled back from the force of the blow. Gore ran down his face. Some blood, some saliva, and some things I didn't care to mention.

"Quit stalking me!" I yelled as he came toward me again, spitting out a tooth. His goons pulled me up off the ground with their bristly hands and tied my wrists and ankles together with some of that high-quality leaden rope. They then promptly tied me to a tree. Yay.

He walked up (really lumbered up. I think the ground shook) and stroked my cheek with one of his giant claws. "Hey hot-head how are you? I missed you so much. Let's go home, where you can massage my feet," he growled, leaning in to try and kiss me with those hairy wolf lips of his. EW!

I smiled nicely and hocked a loogie at his face. Idiot. He should know by now to gag me. But that would deny him the pleasure of attempting to kiss me. I have no idea why he likes me, maybe because I was the only girl mutant at the Academy. Jakob bellowed and wiped the mucus out of his eyes then lashed out me with his claws. I dodged his attack, watching as his claws gouged the tree with vengeance.

Jakob ripped his paw free, sending splinters into the air (Dang splinters!).

I nonetheless grinned at him, "Anger management much?" Jakob snarled in my face, "This time I'm going to really kill you."

I laughed, "If only I had a buck for every time I heard that, I'd be rich." Jakob growled at me and unhooked his gun from his side.

"I mean it," he said, pointing the gun at my forehead. My jaw dropped open. Since when did he actually mean anything? Since I escaped and told him I didn't like him at all, that I hated him?

A trickle of sweat ran down my neck. "O-okay then," I said confidently. I might have been talking securely, like I had no problem with him killing me, but on the inside, I was quaking with fear. If I had to die, I'd like to experience more. True freedom, true happiness, and maybe . . . true love. Maybe flying after kissing someone would be a fine time to die. But with a bloodthirsty wolfy pervert with an attitude problem holding a gun to my head? Not a pleasant dying scenario.

Jakob grasped my neck and lifted me up as far as he could from where I was tied to the tree trunk, slowly asphyxiating me. I gasped in breaths of air, molecule by molecule. If my hands weren't tied, I'd be scrabbling at my neck. Not like it would do much good, but still. "Cretin," I wheezed.

"What a pleasant compliment. Rude to the end, aren't you Kari?" Jakob replied, "Say goodbye hot-head." He raised the gun up so he could point the laser dot on my forehead.

With every breath left in my body, I screamed.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The trees immediately burst into flames, as I knew they would. Why? I could create explosions when scared/angry. Meaning: now. I discovered my talent on the day we escaped from the Academy. Actually, that was the reason we escaped. One of the scientists was trying to jab me with a needle and I freaked out. Because it was HUGE. So I screamed 'No!' and blew up a whole section of the hospital, discovered I was fire –proof, went to get Derrick, and here we are today.

The boom from the blast must've been heard for a couple miles. My captors were blown backward. One smacked his head again a rock, and didn't get up. Oops. The other two flew into burning trees. Take that, jerks! I heard several satisfying cracks from both Erasers, and then howls as the fire burned them. Ha-ha.

As much as I was entirely enjoying myself, watching the Erasers suffer, I had to get out of there before the fire burned itself out and the Erasers recovered. But I couldn't. I pulled as hard as I could against the rope that was binding me, but to no avail would it break. It just burned me where the metal was too hot. So I did the only thing I could: cry for help. Of course until a large piece of timber from a tree smacked the top of my head. A bright light exploded behind my eyes, and then everything went dark.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

(Max's P.O.V.)

Me and the Flock were serenely gliding the air currents in southern Alabama. After the Itex incident, all I'd wanted to do was to relax for a while. And so far, I was. Even the Voice hadn't spoken up in a couple of days. Fang had even become more social able towards me. "Woo – hoo! This is great!" I said, swirling on an updraft. Fang smiled slightly at my childishness.

Iggy flew next to Gazzy, discussing bomb techniques, while Nudge and Angel were arguing over who had prettier wings. I swooped upwards on a warm current, when suddenly the whole forest seemed to implode. I got blown backwards into Fang (talk about embarrassing), who immediately and carefully caught me. Angel went spinning into the air until Nudge went after her, and Iggy and Gazzy stood their ground (really it was air) pretty well, probably because they were used to have stuff blowing up near them all their lives. Total yelped and dove deeper into Fang's backpack.

"What was that?" I murmured, untangling myself from the sprawl of limbs that was Fang and I, watching the forest below burn.

"Oof," Fang wheezed, "I'm never trying to catch you again. Next time I'll just let you fly off. You weigh a ton."

"I don't weigh anymore than 100 pounds, you idiot," I said, punching Fang playfully in the arm.

"All the chocolate – chip cookies you've been ingesting lately might have something to do with your added weight," Fang said, his dark eyes humorous, "What was it? Four dozen cookies in the last week?"

"It has nothing to do with the cookies! It's called puberty!" I shouted loudly. The whole flock looked over.

"Max?" Angel asked, "What's puberty?"

"I'll tell you when you're older, Angel," I said. I can't believe I just said that out loud. I blushed furiously and turned to Fang.

He smirked, "Nice one . . ."

"Shut up!" I whispered furiously.

"Whatever," Fang said, "About that explosion . . ."

"THAT WAS AWESOME!!" Gazzy shouted, crowing with happiness and punching his fists in the air, "The whole forest went Kaboom! It's like someone set off dynamite or bombs in a dozen places!! Woot!!"

Iggy was silent, amazed by the sheer sound and feel of the forest burning. Suddenly he asked though, "Does anyone hear that?"

"What?" Everyone asked, alert.

"Someone's calling for help," Iggy stated.

"Where?" I asked.

"I . . . don't know . . ." Iggy said, "The fire makes it difficult to hear . . . wait, it stopped."

I winced as a shard of pain drove through my brain.

Max, there is someone down there. You need to rescue her. She is critical to helping aid you in your quest to save the world.

Oh Great . . . the Voice. And just when I was thinking that I had finally gotten rid of you. . .

Max, you need to save the girl!

How many times do I have to say that I don't want to save the world!?

Many. But that's not the point. Save her! Or let an innocent person die . . .

"Save?" I asked, rubbing my temples.

"Save what?" asked Fang.

"Hey! Hey! I can see some blue in all that red! Someone is down there!" Gazzy exclaimed, pointing to a smudge of blue against the fire.

"I told you I heard someone!" Iggy said.

"Are those Erasers?" Fang asked, shading his eyes from the sun. Greenish - grey blobs were moving towards the blue.

"Oh my gosh! Erasers! I didn't think they would be still chasing us! I mean, we gave them the slip in Florida so how could they've found us? Do you think that –" Nudge rambled until she was cut off by Gazzy.

"They're not after us; they're after the person in blue!" Gazzy said, pointing now at the black and green smudges of the Erasers, slowly moving towards the person.

"Okay everyone! There's someone down there that needs rescuing! Nudge, you, Gazzy, and Angel go back to the hideout and set up our small stash of medical supplies; the person might need medical attention. Fang, Iggy come with me! We're on a search - and – rescue mission! Everyone move!" I shouted, swooping down, closely followed by Iggy and Fang.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

(Max's P.O.V.)

Fang, Iggy, and I flew through the forest, diving away from occasional hazards. When we reached the person in blue, all went into fighting mode. Two Erasers made their way towards them, limping slightly.

"Give us the hot – head and we'll leave," the leader said, pulling a large chunk of wood out of his arm, dripping blood onto the blacked ground.

"Give me three good reasons Fido," I replied coolly, cracking my knuckles, "What's so special about her anyway?"

"None of your business," the leader grunted.

"Wrong answer to someone who wants to know the details," I said as I flew at him and punched his jaw hard. What? He was an Eraser who frankly reminded me of Ari. Mental shudder there.

The other Eraser jumped at Fang, pinning him to the ground, but only for a short period of time, as Fang kicked upwards and the Eraser was thrown off.

Meanwhile, Iggy had found the person we had seen (or in Iggy's case, heard). He felt around the person's bindings, touching a tiny flaw in the leaden rope. He unflipped a pocketknife from his lock pick kit and began working away at the inside. Within seconds, the rope fell, and Iggy stuffed it in his sweatshirt. Rope with that quality had to be highly useful. He turned back towards the person, feeling their injuries.

"Ig! Watch out!" Fang called, as his Eraser turned away from him, finding Fang too much of a match. It came towards Iggy, fist flying towards him. Iggy took a hard punch in the jaw before kicking it in the stomach.

Fang raced over in a flurry of dark wings and punched the Eraser out cold. "Sorry Iggy, all I had time to shout out was a warning," Fang apologized, eyes glancing at Iggy's steadily swelling cheek.

"'S right," Iggy said.

"What'd I miss?" I asked, walking towards the two oldest boys of her flock, finished kicking my Eraser's butt.

"Well," Iggy said as looked over in the direction of the person, "The person's hurt pretty bad, with a concussion, a couple of bullet wounds here and there . . . oh . . . and the person also has wings."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

(Max's P.O.V.)

Fang and I looked at each other in disbelief.

"Are you sure the girl has wings?" I asked tentatively.

"Girl?" Iggy asked, a strawberry blush staining his pale face. Me and Fang smirked at each other, both wryly amused at Iggy's reaction. Even though I had the Voice tell me beforehand, we both could see that the person was clearly a female.

"How in the world could you not tell that the person was a girl?" I asked, "Jeez Ig, I mean, duh, how could you not tell?"

"I was more interested in the wings part . . ." Iggy mumbled, worn sneaker scuffing the ground, "The wings are pretty bad off." I bent down next to the injured girl and gently lifted up a wing, riddled with bullet holes and bleeding profusely.

"Oh my god, we've got to get her some help!" I said, "Fang, you support her arms, Iggy and I will get her legs."

"Hey Fang . . ." Iggy asked hesitantly, "What does she look like? The girl?"

"Red hair, red wings . . . she's pretty Ig," Fang whispered, "She could really be your type . . ."

"I don't know," Iggy mumbled, "I just met her, kind of. And anyway, what girl could love a blind kid?"

Jakob pushed himself off the ground slowly, wincing with every small movement. He spit out a couple of pointed teeth. That girl gave a mean punch. Jakob checked himself over. Third – degree burns, broken ribs, bruises and gashes everywhere . . . but Erasers were fast healers when injured. No biggie with this. Already he was feeling better.

He walked over to his remaining partner, attempting not to look at the charred remains of his other one. He nudged the living Eraser with his boot; it gave a groan. Jakob took that as an okay.

Pulling a two – way, fire – proof radio out of his burned pocket, Jakob turned the knob until he heard the static fizzle. Smirking slightly, he pressed the button. "Hey Jeb, you were right, Maximum Ride did come through here . . ."

"Good . . ." Jeb's voice crackled back, sounding satisfied.

(Kari's P.O.V.)

I sat on a bench in the mountains, watching the clouds go by. Suddenly thousands of butterflies came fluttering down the mountainside. I desperately wanted to fly along with them, but my wings were gone. Some of the butterflies landed on me, brushing antennae and wings against my skin.

There was a bright light, and then I was looking up at a sky, which was actually a clear bright blue, not cloudy at all. The bench was gone and I was lying on my back. The butterflies were also still there. I painfully turned my head a bit and saw somebody. My vision kept focusing and unfocusing until I could see clearly. The butterflies were some unknown guy flittering his hands over my body!

I screamed and he looked at me, confused. I jumped up as fast as I could (practically passing out in pain) and smacked his hand away. "Perv! Get off!" I shrieked. He looked at me like I was crazy and reached out a hand to me.

"I won't hurt you," he said, trying to feel for me.

"Get off! Pervert!" I shouted. My yelling attracted a couple more kids from inside a cave next to the ledge we were on.

"Ig? What is it?" A girl my age asked. She noticed me swatting at the dude with blond hair. "What's your problem?" She asked, "He's trying to help, we all are."

"No you aren't!" I yelled. "I don't even know you people! You're probably all working with the Academy! This is a test! Like all those other times! First you cut me up and then read my stress levels after this!" I pointed at the boy.

"Oh god!" The girl gasped, "She must not remember! She's gonna kill herself if she tries to fight anymore! Angel! Stop her before she hurts herself!"

"I can't!" Angel said, a curly, blond – haired little girl, clearly straining, "This high keening keeps interrupting my mind reading!"

My eyes widened. A girl with powers like me?! Yeah right!

"Oh my gods, where's Derrick?!" I shouted, "Where did Derrick go?! What did you do to him!?"

"What?! We didn't do anything to anyone! Who is Derrick? Your sibling?" The 'leader' girl asked.

"You!" I shrieked, trembling, "You know all about me, don't you!? That's how you know Derrick's my brother!"

"No!" The older girl said.

"You're working for the Erasers and Jeb!" I accused.

"Jeb? You know Jeb?" The older girl and a dark haired boy asked, doing a double – take at each other as they said it.

"Yeah, Jeb! Bet you're best buds with him, huh?! You're all scientists come to test me!" I shrieked, sounding like a madwoman even to my own ears.

"No—" The older girl started to say, but I cut her off.

"Have you ever seen a kid fly?!" I yelled, "Cuz guess what, sister?! I'm gonna rock your world!"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

And with that I unfolded my wings as fast as I could (Really bad idea. I almost passed out again.), and jumped off the cliff ledge. I skydived down a couple hundred feet before I realized that my wings weren't catching any air. I craned my neck and gazed, terrified. My wings had so many bullet holes in them that I couldn't fly! I moved my wings up and down, crying out. The pain was too much.

I could see the ground a few hundred feet below me. I was gonna die. A silver tear rolled up my cheek. I'm gonna die . . . My head hurt. My wings hurt. My entire body was shutting down. Never to see the world again. Unconscious, then dead. No true things for me. The last thing I remember before I blacked out was the feel of strong arms snagging my waist. Then . . . nothing . . .

I blinked awake. I felt warm. I pushed myself up on my elbows and let a jacket fall off my torso. I looked around a cave and saw no one. Where was I? It came back to me. The kids, Jakob, the explosion; it all came back in a rush. I clutched my head with bandaged hands, whimpering. I must have temporarily lost my memory. I remembered jumping off a cliff, then being saved. Who saved me?

The kids. There was Angel, the oldest girl that was the leader I think, and the gothic - looking kid. I also saw a black girl and a boy that looked like Angel. And the perv. Where did they all go?

I heard a fluttering of wings and some talking. The smell of hamburgers wafted through the air. I sat there, mouth watering. Could these kids fly like me? Were they bringing me food? That's impossible. There are only Derrick and I who can fly. The kids must've walked up when a bird or two was landing. Really BIG birds.

The leader ducked into the cave, tucking in her wings. O - Kay, so apparently the impossible had become possible. SHE HAD WINGS LIKE ME. The next couple of kids came in, also tucking in their wings. Oh my gods, there was a whole troop of them!

"Hey!" the leader said, noticing I was awake, "Here's some chow; you must be starving after being blacked out for a day and a half." She tossed me a four - patty burger, and I ripped open the paper, like a wild animal. I sunk my teeth into the burger. I couldn't believe food could taste so darn GOOD!

As I attacked my food, the rest of the group ate their burgers. When I was done, satisfyingly wiping grease from my chin, I spoke up, "Thanks a lot for the food and stuff."

The leader looked up from her fries, "No big. Winged kids stick together. I should probably introduce me and my Flock though. I'm Max." "That's Fang," she said pointing at the Goth kid. He gave me a curt nod and returned to his burger. "This is Iggy," she said, pointing to the perv. He blushed and looked away. "Nudge," Max said to me. The black skinned girl waved and started talking, "Hey! You have really pretty wings! I can't believe Erasers were after you in the middle of nowhere! I –" Fang gave an audible and deliberate cough. "I mean, nice to meet you!" Nudge rushed.

Max rolled her eyes and nodded at the littlest kids, who were definitely related. "I'm Gazzy," the little boy mumbled through his mouthful of food. And I'm Angel, welcome to the Flock, Kari! The little girl said. Her voice was in my head. She knew my name. She was a mind – reader. Yes, I am. The girl said again.

My eyes must've been bugging out, because Max glanced at me and said, "Angel's a mind – reader, and more. Some of us have powers. Some don't. So far, it's us girls. But we're all skilled at something."

"Hey, hey! Don't forget me!" A voice called out. It seemed to come from the small black dog that was in a backpack.

"Hey, Max? Can your dog talk?" I asked, feeling stupider by the minute.

"Yeah," Max said nonchalantly.

"Well . . . that's odd . . ." I said, "So, what are your guys' powers?"

"I'm able to see what's happened previously in the thing I'm touching. Like when we went to DC, I touched the Vietnam Wall, it's a huge black marble wall, and I felt all the sad emo –"

"Nudge is psychometric," Max interrupted.

"Yeah, that's what I meant," Nudge said, grinning. That girl talked A LOT. But she still seemed like a nice kid I guess.

"I can read minds, talk to fish, and breathe underwater," Angel said.

"The guys don't really have powers yet. The Gasman can mimic any kind of voice –" Max started.

"Any kind of voice," The Gasman said in Max's voice, then mine.

"—Gazzy and Iggy both build bombs well--," she said shot a glare Gazzy and kicked Iggy softly, "But Fang doesn't really have any powers yet."

"Aw, poor me. I wish I had a Voice," Fang said sarcastically. Max rolled her eyes at him.

"I can fly at supersonic speeds and I have a Voice," Max said.

"Are you schizo?" I asked, freaked out.

"Heck no!" Max stated, whapping my unhurt knee, "And be thankful that we were able to bandage you up. It took us a while. So many wounds . . . and jumping off a cliff didn't help anything."

"I'm sorry. I was out of it," I said.

"I should say so. You almost became a bird-kid pancake," Fang muttered. I glared, and he raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think that's intimidating?" Fang asked, eyebrow still raised, "After powwing around with Max, that's not intimidating. This is." He shot me a look so dark that I think my flesh started singeing off. He grinned, a smile that seemed to light up the dark. It was reassuring.

"So, tell us who you are," Max said, staring at me.

"Well –" I began.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"Well—" I began, "I'm Kari. My brother and I escaped from a horrible place called the Academy in Texas in the middle of nowhere."

"How did you escape?" Max asked.

"I was getting to that," I continued, "Derrick and I were both in the hospital section of the Academy. I was scared. There were whispers of termination, death, for me and my brother between the scientists. We were going to be killed because we resisted. We were made for a specific reason, and we refused to follow that reason."

I didn't want them to find out just yet, besides, there are some things that shouldn't be told until the right time.

"I was taken away from Derrick, and strapped to a cold metal table. They were going to kill me, then probably dissect my brain and figure out what went wrong," I paused for dramatic emphasis here. Everyone was looking at me, a couple of the kids even had their jaws dropped. Funny! I mentally giggled. Ah, the suspense!

"So then what?" Max pressed intently.

"Five scientists came toward me, a couple holding syringes and scalpels, both instruments of torture huge, and wicked sharp. And they were going to be used to kill me," I said, feeling the cold fear creep back into my limbs exactly like that day, "I couldn't move much, but I thrashed as hard as I could. The scientists tightened the leather straps around me before I got free. They almost crushed my ribs. It was getting hard to breathe, gasping with every breath was like there was a vice around my neck. And the psycho scientists just leered at me."

"How'd ya get free?" Nudge asked, in a hushed whisper.

"I did the only thing I could do. This is extremely girly, but it was the only thing I thought to do with my oxygen-deprived brain."

"Lemme guess," Fang interrupted quietly, "You screamed."

"Nice work Sherlock," I said, rolling my eyes, "Yeah, I screamed. But my scream got higher and higher - pitched until the scientists were holding their hands over their ears in agony. Then everything burst into flame around me, like a bomb had suddenly gone off. The screams of the scientists rang in my ears as they burned before my eyes." I looked around, sort of relishing the gross - out faces of the Flock.

"I felt the metal of the table I was strapped to burning into my skin. I pulled free, the straps disintegrating before my eyes. My wings had been singed by the table. I rushed off through the rubble to find D-. Yes, Gazzy?" I said.

The sweet, little blond boy lowered his hand and asked, "How come the fire didn't burn you like the scientists?"

"Good question," I said smilingly, "Apparently I'm fire-proof. I can be burned if something is touching me like metal or iron and it's heated up, but not by any fire, including my own. That goes for my wings as well as my hair and body. Derrick and I tested it out a couple of days ago with some matches. Nothing burned."

The Flock gaped at me, with the exception of Fang, who merely blinked and widened his eyes. I guess that's his way of showing complete astonishment. "What?" I said, "Being fire - proof's not as weird as being able to talk to fish."

"Anyway, I found Derrick. He was about to be given the same treatment as me a couple of rooms over. I kicked butt, got an ungrateful speech from Derrick who thought he could save himself, I whapped him, and we both flew off into the sunset. How joyous is that?" I said, all girly – happy. "Unfortunately, not long after that," I sighed, subdued, "We discovered soon that the golden trio of Erasers at the Academy, the favored three, were tracking us, to try and get us back before the big boss that they all worship found out. That boss . . . is Jeb."

Everyone gaped at me, including Fang. Apparently, they all knew Jeb. And not in a good way. But I didn't like Jeb either, so that worked. "We'd been traveling for a couple of days to leave the U.S., and go to like, a deserted island, and had taken refuge for the night in a cabin close to here, in Alabama. Well, the trio found us a couple of nights ago, because we thought we'd shaken them off, and we took a couple of days to recuperate from almost straight flying. They came for us on the morning we were about to set off again. Derrick managed to escape, but those bas- I mean, mangy curs managed to shoot me because I was busy helping Derrick to freedom," I explained. Oops! Almost swore in front of the little kidlets!

"I blew up the forest. And now I have to find Derrick before he dies or something. But I will find him," I said, sounding like a freaking superhero or something. Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel clapped, like my horror story was a happily - ever – after.

"So the Erasers want to bring you back to the Academy? To kill you anyway?" Fang asked.

"Yeah," I replied, my face screwing up in my hatred for the trio, "Jakob, Micheal, and Chris. I killed Chris when the forest blew up." I moodily poked a stick into the soft sand of the cave. "But I haven't gotten the chance to kill Jakob yet," I said.

"Why? You want to kill him why?" Max asked.

"He's a pervert that stalks me. Among other things," I muttered.

"Ari. He sounds kinda like that. Just forget about it 'til you have to kick his hairy butt," Max said calmly.

"Well, that was a bad mental image. I think it got burned into my retinas," I replied. Everyone laughed.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"So where're you guys headed?" I asked.

Max looked at me warily, like she had x – ray vision or something, like I was a spy. Her face soon cleared as she realized that I wouldn't be so dumb as to get myself shot on purpose. As if!

"Well, we don't know yet," she said.

"Is it possible maybe I could come with? I mean, I'd of course have to check my schedule. Let's see: Monday, don't get killed, Tuesday, don't get killed, Wednesday, don't get killed . . . Yeah . . . my week is actually pretty basic. You? Anything on your schedule?" I asked, cracking a smile.

Everyone sort of grinned at me. Yay, I was making a good impression! Or maybe a sarcastic one . . . Max ran a hand through her mid – back long hair and looked at me. "I don't know yet," she sighed, "But whatever the case, we can't leave you here like this. Bird kids gotta stick together. So we'll wait until you're healed, or until we get attacked by Erasers, 'til we leave."

I nodded slowly, gasping as a gash on my neck stretched painfully.

Noticing this, Max got up and dusted off her jeans, "Ig, I think we need to change Kari's bandages. Come help me. Fang, watch the kids. Kids, go play." Everyone raced (not exactly) to do whatever Max told them to do. Except Iggy.

"Max," he said cautiously, "I really don't think she wants me near her."

"Nonsense," Max said, "Without you, Kari would be in a lot of trouble. And you helped save her more than once. She'll be okay with it. Right Kari?" She fixed me with a hard glance.

"Sure," I shrugged, half – okay, and half – not. I mean, the guy was touching me. I hit him of course. But what was I supposed to do? Call 911?

Both knelt next to me, unwrapping and unsticking bandages from my still – not - healed bullet wounds, many of which were still bleeding/oozing. I hissed slightly in pain. Max gave me a small it's-all-right smile before unrolling a long strip of gauze.

Iggy unscrewed the top of an antiseptic bottle off and handed it to Max. He then ran his pale, long fingers over my stomach.

I gasped. "What are you doing?!" I said loudly.

Max glared at me darkly, before reading the disbelief and confusion written on my face. "Couldn't you tell?" Max asked.

"Tell what?" I asked. I glanced at Iggy, he looked perfectly fine.

"I'm blind," He said, as though stating the obvious.

"Oh my God, no!" I said, horrorstruck. He wasn't a pervert! He was probably feeling my injuries with his super-sensitive fingers! "Iggy, I am so so so so so so so so sorry!" I exclaimed, "I didn't know!"

"It's okay," he mumbled. But right at that moment, Max just had to pour the burning antiseptic into my biggest and most open wound. I jumped and on reflex grabbed Iggy's arm. I let go hurriedly, whispering an embarrassed, "sorry".

"It's okay," he said again, "Just squeeze my hand when it hurts, but don't crush it." He held his hand out to me, and I grabbed it again as Max poured on more antiseptic. This time I think she did it on purpose. I blushed a shade of pink, and I thought Iggy did too, but I was more focused on the searing pains of my injuries. However, soon it was done and Iggy was gone to go fly with the rest of the Flock, with a soft smile to me (!!!), Max pounced on me.

"You like Iggy, don't you?" She murmured.

"So what if I do?" I retorted.

"No need to jump all over me. If you don't, then fine. But if you do, then I'm going to warn you now. You're the newbie. And as the newbie you're going to have a lot to learn. I am the leader and protector of my Flock, and if you hurt, intentionally or accidentally, one of them, I will see no reason to hunt you down and kill you myself. Got it?" Max hissed threateningly.

"Yes ma'am," I said, resisting the urge to do a military salute.

"Good," Max said, cracking a smile, "I'll bring you out to the ledge, but no jumping off the cliff this time, okay?" She helped me to the outcropping of rock and then flew off with the rest of her Flock. God, I missed flying. I couldn't wait to get back in the air again. I heard a soft rustle next to me and saw white wings. Angel.

Hi Kari.

Hi.

Do you like my family?

Mostly.

Kari, is it painful? Your memories?

Memories of what?

Your past.

I . . . don't know.

Do you have a family somewhere out there?

I don't know. I've never met them.

I have parents. Somewhere out there. But they're not my real family. This is my real family.

That's nice to think of.

You have a brother though. Right? Like I have Gazzy?

Yeah, Derrick. Oh gosh, Derrick! I should be looking for him! I shouldn't just be sitting idly around! I have to find him before the big lug gets in trouble! I –

Calm down. We'll go to find him. She patted my hand reassuringly. I'll ask Max and Fang later. But I'm going to play tag now. Bye.

She flew off, gracefully. I replayed the conversation in my head. What happened to my past? Did I even have one? I shook my head, confused. Soon the light turned grayish and everyone flew in to snack on cold fast-food remnants and granola bars. Then they did this weird fist stacking thing (with me off to the side, uncomfortable) and everyone went to sleep. Including me. For about a peaceful half-hour.

I woke up, my right arm screaming in pain. I felt the blood dripping out of my arm onto my pants. The bleeding began to clot finally and I went back to sleep. For a whopping hour. Jeezum! My head was now throbbing. I groaned softly, holding it in my hands. The pain faded away and I went back to sleep for another half-hour before I woke up again, wincing in pain from my abdomen.

I slept like this for almost until about 2 – in – the – morning – ish. I woke up in pain (what'd you know) and sat up. I couldn't sleep like this! I ___strenuously sat up and made my way out to the rock ledge. I was surprised to see a white head on the ledge. Iggy._


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

He immediately turned around, hearing my footsteps, "Hello Kari."

"You can tell who I am by the way I walk?" I asked, impressed.

"Just because I'm blind doesn't mean I can't 'see' in other ways," he said, clearly pissed off that I couldn't tell. He turned back towards the night.

"Sorry," I said, "Can I join you?" Iggy shrugged his shoulders so I sat down next to him.

"Is it hard sometimes? Being blind?" I asked tentatively.

"Sometimes," he said, "I remember when I could see. The world was full of color. Now it's darkness, and I have to imagine those colors again. It's getting hard to remember them."

"So then you rely on hearing and touch mostly, huh?" I said.

"Yeah," he replied, "And thanks Kari."

"For what?" I said, surprised.

"For asking me what it's really like being blind. The Flock gives me their sympathies, but they don't know what it's like. It's hard, but it's something I think I would never forget," Iggy said.

"Iggy . . . you're welcome," I murmured, secretly pleased.

"You know, I was the one who saved you when you jumped off the ledge. I heard you," he said, chuckling.

"Really?" I asked, "Well, thank you so much!" And I actually meant it. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said, "Kari?"

"What?" I asked.

"I'm glad you came to the Flock."

I took his hand and squeezed it, smiling.

I woke up, blinking in the light. Dang. They left me behind again. Not like I could fly anywhere, but they could've given me some notice. I sighed and sat up. Thank the Lord for fast healing. I peeled off some of the bandages that I knew that the injuries underneath were slight and smiled at the tiny white shrinking scar lines. Soon they would be gone.

I pulled myself up and slowly stretched out my wings. At least with all the red feathers, you couldn't see the blood. Geez. I REALLY needed a bath. Just wait until I peeled off some more bandages and I could go to the lake/pond thing close to the cave.

I raided the cave for the medical supplies and changed my own bandages, dribbling antiseptic onto it, wincing and then putting a strip of gauze over it, or wrapping it in cloth, or . . . well, yeah, you get the point. I went out to the ledge and just sat in the sunshine, drinking in the light. I left a couple of my wounds open so they could dry with the air.

When the Flock came back, I was dozing in the sun. "Hey," I said, cracking one eye open, "Whatcha been doing?"

"Stuff," Max said, "Here's some food." She tossed a couple of fast food cartons and I tore into them, starving.

"You look better," Fang said quietly.

"I feel better," I said happily.

We finished eating and I watched them fly until the sun went down. I finally fell asleep. But then I woke up in hell.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

I finally fell asleep. But then I woke up in hell. I was in a crate. A dog crate. You've got to be kidding me.

I heard a rustling next to me and saw the face of Fang. "What the heck happened?!" I hissed.

"Erasers. They came in the night. Max was on watch and they knocked her out. She put up a powerful fight, but she lost. She looks real bad now, so don't say anything. I woke up when they came in the cave but they shot me with this blowgun thing. Then they knocked the rest of you guys out. And here we are now," Fang replied.

I blinked, "Do you usually talk this much?"

"Not really," he replied, "Only around people that make me feel comfortable. You're one of them. I kinda feel like I can trust you already."

I gave a sheepish smile and asked in a controlled voice, "Where are they taking us?"

"The School," Fang said angrily.

_"Attention prisoners. We're going to land soon. Enjoy your stay in hell."_ The intercom went off.

"Gre-eat," I said as we descended.

They tossed us unmercifully into the back of some grimy trunk of some car and we sped off towards the hated School. As soon we had passed the doors of the building, I swear the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Those doors with no color and the smell of the place just made me want to blow a hole through the roof and watch it burn.

Erasers took us into an atrium – like place, dog crates stacked to the ceiling with experiments inside. I passed a little boy with eyes as big as dinner plates, reaching out to us. The Eraser clawed his hand and he retracted it, whimpering in pain. Poor little guy . . . I wanted to give him a hug . . .

With no respect for us, the Erasers dropped us onto the floor and left. I rubbed a spot on my head where the crate had hit and looked around. Gazzy was to my left, trembling slightly in fear, and Fang was to my right, whispering words of comfort to Max as she slowly regained consciousness.

"So now what?" I whispered to Gazzy, "What happens now?"

With a finger, he pointed grimly at the doors to the atrium. Two scientists (whitecoats, Gazzy insisted) walked in surrounded by a small group of Erasers. One of the Erasers swiped at Fang's face as he talked to Max and then crouched in front of her cage.

"Hey Maxy, what's wrong? Your stupid little posse got captured and you look like crap, at least more than usual. Shouldn't you be happy?" He said, sarcastic in the dumbest of ways.

Max came up close to the bars of her carrier and smiled sweetly. She spit blood in his eye. I was beginning to like this girl a lot. The Eraser grimaced and wiped it out before being ordered to step aside. A whitecoat took his place.

"Hi sweetheart, it's good to see you again. Follow me please," he said as he opened the doggy door to Max's cage. She sullenly glared at him through all her pain and followed.

As soon as they had left the room, I turned to Fang, "Now what? We have to escape!"

"Do you have any bright ideas?" he muttered, "No, I thought not."

"Shut it," I said, "I could get us out by explosion, but that would probably kill you."

An Eraser walked in right then, punching a few cages and laughing. Jerk. Fang glared at the wolfman until I thought he was going to burn a hole through his back. Which actually, was what he did.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The blistering carcass fell to the floor, sizzling quietly. We all stared in amazement.

"Dude! That was awesome!" I said, freaking out, "We could totally get out of here with that! Fang? Fang? What's wrong?"

His head was bobbing slowly back and forth, like he was going to faint. Wait, too girly. Like he was going to pass out. He gave his head a few vigorous shakes and stared unfocusedly at me.

"I'm fine," he said. Yeah right. And that's when I noticed the fallen keys in front of my cage. Eureka. I stretched and fingered the keys, before reaching farther (ow, my almost-healed shoulder!) and grabbing them. I had a couple of minutes of finding the right key and jamming it in the lock before I was free. I crawled out and unlocked Fang's and Gazzy's cages, practically dragging the semi-conscious Fang out. I chucked the keys to Gazzy and he started unlocking all the cages he could reach. Idiot scientists only used one key for all the cages. What were they thinking?

Iggy took Fang from me and smacked him upside the head. Fang's eyes immediately focused as he yelled, "What the heck was that for? I'm fine!" I rolled my eyes and we raced off down a white hallway. The whole time I was thinking, 'Kinda like that white tunnel when you die, eh?'

We skidded around a corner and saw Max through a glass window. In an interrogation-ish room. Now, I really don't want to go through all the gore we had to get through to that room, but it involved heaps and heaps of dead Erasers. Max was cheerfully punching anything that came near her without wings, so I think she must've enjoyed herself.

We busted open an emergency door and wandered out onto an enormous plot of grass and dirt. And waiting for us? Well, what was waiting for us was most likely our demise.

What seemed like a freaking ARMY of Erasers was only amplified by a billion times more fear. There was a new experiment out there. A horrifying combination of what looked like a human covered in reptilian skin with a shark's jaw full of razor teeth and bulgy deadened green eyes. 'Rip-and-tear-ers' flitted through my mind.

They all glared at us before attacking. Like it was our fault they looked like this. I didn't think, didn't worry that I was going to kill dozens more, I just did what I had. A kick here, an explosion from Iggy's bombs there, and we were actually seemed like we were winning. Until the last few minutes of battle. We had almost killed off most of the main army, Angel was taking care of the rest, when I heard it.

A crack of thunder rolled across the School's grounds. I looked up at the sky, expecting rain. Clear, endless blue. What the heck? I heard a shriek of surprise and turned. Oh no, Max! She was crumpling to the body-strewn ground. Blood was streaming out of a chest wound, Max's pale hands trying without success to stop the flow. I saw Fang, tearing apart Erasers fighting him to get to Max.

Without thought, I turned to the Eraser holding the gun, and with cold fury, screamed him into a thousand flaming chunks of flesh. Cool. I have some control over this. But other, BIGGER, pressing matters.

Max was on the ground now, Fang's arms wrapped comfortingly (Lovingly? Aw, how cute) around her shoulders. The remaining Erasers and whitecoats (and those creepy snake thingys) were fighting each other, under Angel's mind control, and though I relished watching these evil murders kill each other, I had to help somehow. Someway. Please. I hope I can help.

I bounded over to the fallen couple, kneeling by Max's side. "Fang . . ." she was rasping weakly, "Take care . . . of . . . the Flock for . . . me please . . ."

"Don't say that Max, you're going to be all right, you're going to be okay, you– " Fang said, a tinge of worriedness (and was that . . . fear?) in his voice.

Max interrupted, "Fang . . . Fang . . . I love . . ." A trickle of blood ran down her lip.

"I love you too Max," Fang whispered, "Please . . . don't die . . ." Was that a tear?

By this time, my waterworks were on full blast. It was so . . . horrible!

Fang (I definetely saw a tear that time!), with every ounce of truth in this, leaned over Max's face and kissed her. A soft, tender kiss that left my brain on overload from sweetness. I began a soft, quiet keening. Noooo . . . these two should never be parted from this world.

I saw Max's eyes begin to slowly lower and I keened louder. Noooo . . . noooo . . . I suddenly realized that my keening had grown shrill, like when I'm about to blow up something. Oh crap. That's when I realized Max was glowing yellow. Huh?

I tried to stop keening, but I was weirdly growing weaker. I didn't have the strength to fight my own vocal chords. Boy, did that sound odd. I eventually stopped, my head spinning, and then so did Max's glow. Her almost – closed eyes popped open and Fang leaned over her.

A teardrop rolled off Fang's cheekbone and landed on Max's forehead. "Are you crying Fang?" she asked softly, her hand stroking the side of his face. And when he leaned down and kissed her again, I knew everything would be all right . . . for now. I was sucked through a tunnel of blackness, I couldn't see, I heard Max and Fang and Iggy talking over me worriedly, and then I was out like a light. Then my past came to me through my dreams.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Faces. So many faces. So much pain. Why did I feel this much pain? My whirlwind finally focused on one picture. I was in a cage, weeping because they had injected me with a medication that made my skin burn and itch. In vain, I tried to tear my own skin off; there were deep gashes everywhere I could reach from my fingernails.

I was small. Probably around 6 or 7. I wiped my gored hand against my face, smearing blood among my tears. I was so miserable. So unhappy.

"Kari," I heard a voice whisper. I turned to see my brother Derrick, 8. He looked frightened at me. "Kari, be strong."

I tearfully nodded, and then a shadow filled my door.

"Come with me, Experiment 673-02, time for some blood tests." I had no choice but to follow. I passed many cages. Some were avian hybrids like me. Some were feline, some canine, some undersea, and some that were just mistakes. I exited the room and passed what seemed like a nursery. There was a dark-haired avian baby in there, with a couple others. I saw some without facial features, some that were like slugs. I turned, sickened. These horrible people.

The images churned again. I was drinking a juice box greedily when a small boy came up next to me.

"Hi Kari," he said. I looked at him warily, what did he want? "I like you a lot." He hugged me and I froze. The heck?

The images churned yet again. Somehow I knew that this was the last one. I was with a group of people. I was flying, high up. An Asian girl flew next to me. She was beautiful, dark hair fluttering in her ponytail, green eyes sparkling, gold-dark-brown wings moving powerfully to keep the same pace as I. I turned to look at the rest of the group, but the image cut off. No.

Dark, midnight dark, darker than Fang's feathers. Wait. Who was Fang? I couldn't remember. A white light pinpoint came into view. Was I going to die? That's alright, I probably wasn't going to be much help to the world anyways.

Ouch. The light burned. It was filling my vision. Ouch, ouch, ow! The sun! It was the sun! I sat straight up from where I was laying and rubbed my spotting eyes. My hearing came in about now. Then smell. Feel was already there. Taste didn't matter, I wasn't eating. There was a thick taste of death and gunpowder in my mouth though.

"Kari?! Are you all right?!" A blond-haired guy asked. Oh. Wait. Iggy. This was Iggy. Everything just clicked back in the not-so-cheerful perspective.

I took one look at everyone crowded concernedly around me and burst into tears. Max was alright. Fang was alright. Everyone was alright. So why was I crying? Oh, yeah, worry. I hiccoughed and blinked.

Those images. They were memories. Of my past? Yes, I was sure of it.

I stood up shakily and asked, "What happened to me?"


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"You collasped," Max said, "After healing me. I can't thank you enough though, Kari. Thank you."

"Your eyes turned the purest onyx color and a blank look came onto your face," Fang said.

"You started sobbing uncontrollably," Iggy murmured.

"After that, we didn't know what was going on until you sat up," Max finished, "It was like watching a computer reboot."

"What were you seeing?" Iggy asked.

"My memories . . . of my past . . . I think the ones I got drained by the scientists," I said. Everyone stared. I heard a large gasp from Nudge. I snorted. Drama queen.

"What were they like, specifically?" Fang said quietly.

"Odd," I muttered, "One was when I was little, one was of a little boy who said he liked me, and the last was one of another avian girl like me."

"Do you think it might have a link to your abilities?" Angel asked quietly.

"I don't know," I replied, "I don't know."

"Iggy," I whispered, "C'mere."

"Wha?" he mumbled sleepily.

"Get up sleepy," I replied, "I want to try something out."

"Nooooooo Max," Iggy muttered, "I was having a great dream about someone. She had red hair." I blushed. Me?

Iggy just realized what he said then, and sat up, wide - eyed. "Hello?!" he asked. He sounded freaked out. Dang it.

"Sorry for scaring you Iggy," I said, placing a hand on his broad, warm – No! Bad Kari! You don't deserve to love! – shoulder so he would know where I was, "Will you come with me to test something out?" Oh gee, there were a couple different ways he could take this. Thankfully the radical part kicked in, and he nodded.

"What are you planning to do?" he asked, eyes glinting mischeviously.

"Come on! I'll show you!" I said. We had to hurry before Max woke up and got suspicious.

"Iggy, here, write a note that says we went to get some groceries. Then, by chance, do you think you could pick her pocket for the credit card?" I asked.

He nodded. "Is this just a shopping trip?" he said, bored.

"Hell no," I replied, "We're going to see if my power is linked to my memories. We get to blow up stuff."

Iggy grinned wickedly, "Awesome."

So, flying as fast as we could (with our newly - nicked credit card. Iggy was good), we grabbed some stuff from the local grocery and paid. Stupid cheapskate store. Then we flew to a small clearing in the woods.

MEANWHILE . . .

"Dammit all! They nicked my credit card!" Max fumed.

"Calm down, you'll wake the kids!" Fang hissed, an early riser.

"I don't give a care, they stole the card! What are they gonna waste money on?!" Max shouted, "What are they gon–!"

(Fang had kissed Max to shut her up. And it worked. 8D)

BACK TO THE MAIN CHARACTER . . .

"Stay behind me," I said, "If anything happens and I blow us up, I'll cover you."

"What? How will that help?" he asked, blushing.

"Idiot!" I hissed, "Fireproof body, remember?!"

"Right-o," Iggy said, "Go!" Ha, rhyme.

I screamed all my frustration from my memories at a poor defenseless tree. Iggy had screwed his fingers in his ears. Higher, higher, higher, right note! I jumped at Iggy and folded him beneath my body. Embarassing? Yes. Potentially life-saving? Duh. I managed to close my jaw (it didn't want to!!) and what could've been an explosion as big as a nuclear one turned out to only blow up a couple trees in the clearing. Dang, this is dangerous. No wonder they gave me this power. Sickos.

I felt some splinters poke my wings but then the exploding was done. I sighed. Safe. But now that the danger was over, embarrassment came. I blushed, hard.

And then my vision was flickering out. Black, black! My mind hurt and I was out like a light, falling to Iggy's chest. Sleep now. Sleep. The last conscious thought I had was, 'My hypothesis was correct. Wouldn't the scientists love me.'


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Dark. Dark. Dark. Like I wanted to sleep forever. Like vivid dreams, my memories came whirling to me. Okay, let's get this show on the road.

There was a boy, my age. We were hugging. I loved him. I knew I loved him. He bent down to touch his lips to mine, but then the images swirled, making me supremely dizzy.

Then came Jeb. That messed – up (insert horrible name here). He was smiling at me. I tried to melt his face off with my glare. I didn't want to be here; I wanted to be with my Flock. Wait, I had a Flock?? He spoke, but I couldn't hear him. Stupid ears. He finished talking and I gave him the finger. He smiled at me again while I cussed him out with every nasty swear word I knew. Then an Eraser came to my side and tasered my neck. I choked . . . couldn't talk . . . hard to breathe. . .

Another memory. Only this time, I could hear but not see. Everything was amplified by tenfold. I could even hear the breathing in the next couple rooms over of the scientists.

"Guys," I heard myself saying, "You know what we were created to do. We were created for that purpose, but we don't have to follow those idiot scientists' lines. We have our own fates. And therefore, we're going to break out of here. Phantom, you phase though the walls and disconnect the alarm system. Keep invisible and then hurry back. Clowd, break open the door with lightning. Take your thumb out of your mouth, sweetie. Okay, as soon as the door is busted, Falon, go outside and do what you do best. Aero, you change the ceiling into whatever and we're out of here!" Everyone cheered.

The guy, Aero, whispered, "Are you sure everything will be all right?"

"Everything will be fine, this is our second breakout," I assured him, "Everything will be a-okay." I heard myself kiss him. "Now all we have to do is wait."

This was getting easier to take. The blackness, like oozy tar, swallowed up my memories and plugged my ears. I felt myself blink a couple times. My eyelashes fluttered against something. My vision cleared, a growing spot, and I was looking at peach. Peach what? Oh crap. Peach SKIN.

I gently removed my lips from Iggy's face, blushing. Now I felt like those trees when I tried to explode them. Iggy's face was tomato-red. Oh, yeah.

I shimmied off him and muttered a 'sorry'. He gave a grunt in reply. I sat down and gave him a few minutes, reviewing information. Aero, Clowd, Phantom, and Falon. Part of my Flock. And I was in love with Aero. Great. Why?

(Iggy's P.O.V.)

Kari was screaming with concentration. Ow. My fingers were screwed in my ears and they still didn't block out the shrill noise. Damn, if she didn't blow them up, she would make them go deaf or crazy.

She suddenly leaped at me and I felt her body collide with mine. Three resonating explosions sounded. Krac-koom, krac-koom, krac-koom.

And then I was suddenly aware of how she fell on me. Why did she have to be so soft? Her feathers touched my face. Her hair brushed along my collarbone. I shivered. And she was hugging me awkwardly around the chest. Shoot.

I heard her give a short gasp and her head fell heavily on my shoulder. Guess her memories are linked to her powers. She laid there for a bit until she came up close to my face. What the? She felt like she was about to kiss me but then conked out again.

Dammit, I could not take this! Why the hell did she have to be so soft?! My face was in flames. Then she was mumbling into my chest. It tickled a bit. And finally, she was talking, about some plan with a whole bunch of people in it.

She reached up and touched my face, kissing my cheek. I was trying not to throw her off. This was so uncomfortable! But heh, I can't not admit I didn't like it.

I felt her eyelashes fluttering against my cheek and she rolled off me, detaching her lips. She was awake. I was concentrating on evening my breathing out and heard her sit. Jeez, what did she dream about that was so romantic?!


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

I was so embarrassed. This was the worst thing I had ever done. Embarrassing!!!!! After a few minutes I sat up. "We should be getting back Iggy," I mumbled, "And I'm sorry to have freaked you out. Again."

He nodded, "Tell me later what happened. I'll wake you up during my shift tonight, okay?"

I agreed and we picked up the groceries from where they were (an obvious safe distance away) and flew back. The sun was creeping over the tops of the tall mountains when we got back. We landed outside the cave and prepared ourselves for a barrage of anger from Max. I picked out some pine needles from Iggy's soft hair and brushed my ashed clothes. Good enough.

We went into the cave, creeping quietly; hopefully Max was still asleep. I suddenly stopped Iggy with a hand. Max. Fang. Together. And they were making out. I whispered into Iggy's ear and he grinned evilly.

We stepped into the cave. "Hi guys," I said nonchalantly. They sprang apart as if electrocuted and blushed. Fang got his shirt off of the floor and put it back on. Naughty Max. Iggy and I were both grinning evilly from ear to ear.

"Iggy, Kari, please, please don't tell the kids," Max begged breathlessly, "Not yet." We both smiled wider. She came up to us and grabbed both our shirts. "I will not hesitate to hurt you two," she hissed, "No telling or you're dead meat. Fang will cheerfully help."

I nodded. I had seen Fang when he was pissed. When he was fighting, he basically ripped the head off of an Eraser with his bare hands. And let's not forget his new power. He was glaring at us now. Crap. I tackled Max and Iggy to the ground as a bolt of black energy shot out of Fang's eyes and disintegrated a tree. Holy (insert shocked swear word here).

"Fang! Be more careful!" I said. He nodded and seemed to grow depressed. Oh yeah, he had almost come within inches of blasting his nearly beloved's head off. That might do it.

"Sorry," he muttered. Max lay stunned on the ground. I pulled her and Iggy up.

"Heheh," I said, "I kinda forgot to tell you about Fang's new power. And so did everyone else." Max shook her head and peered at us.

"Alrighty then," she said, "Fang, be careful. And by the way, what have you two been doing? Kari, your hair has leaves in it and Iggy, you have dirt on your jeans." Oh no, she was getting the wrong idea.

"We were testing out my power," I said, "And by the way Max, your hair is messed up and you have a developing hickey on your neck." I pointed at the bruise on her neck beginning to color and she blushed, clapping a hand over it.

"And there, and there," I said, pointing to more. She blushed harder and ran off.

"Nice work Kari," Iggy said, ruffling my hair playfully, making a few leaves fall out, "She definitely would've given us the police interrogation if not for that."

We walked over and clapped a hand on each of Fang's shoulders. "It's alright Fang, just be careful," I said, "If you concentrate your dark energy through your hands instead of your eyes, you wouldn't kill somebody by glaring. Test it out. I saw you do it when you killed that Eraser. It came out your eyes, but your fingertips were sparking black. Just try it." He nodded and walked off into the woods.

The littler kids woke up around 10-ish, thoroughly exhausted from the battle yesterday. We ate what Iggy and I bought earlier, but the rest of that day passed uneventfully. We just rested. We deserved a rest. Fang finally came out of the woods and smiled. Good. Mission accomplished. And Max walked around with band-aids on her neck, claiming mosquitoes. Yeah right.

They did that weird hand-stacky thing, Max inviting me to join, me refusing, and we all went to bed.

I was poked awake by Iggy, "It's time to tell me what happened, Kari."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

I followed him out to the ledge of the cave and sat by his side. I sighed. I didn't want to tell him this. I loved that guy, Aero. But he was in the past, in my memories. Iggy was now, a new beginning that I could embrace. Somewhere to start over, a place with Max's Flock.

"So, Kari," Iggy asked after an unnerving, tense silence, "What happened when your memories came back? What did you remember?"

I blushed, facing away from him. The obvious answer he was after was: "why the hell did you kiss me?" Great. How to explain, hmm. Uh, I got nothing.

"Kari?" Iggy asked. I looked at his sweet, sweet face, trusting but wary, blind but able to see. I sighed.

"I saw me. I saw a boy. We loved each other deeply," I said as Iggy's face turned into a thousand emotions. Confused, angry, sad, interested.

"I saw Jeb. I saw myself angry at him, wanting to kill him, I hated him so bad. I got shocked in the neck," I went on. Iggy nodded, understanding. Everyone could hate Jeb. A lot.

"And lastly, there was a plan. A plan to escape. A plan that involved four people. Aero, Phantom, Falon, and Clowd. There were more though. I heard two other people breathing besides the people talking and myself. I think that they were my Flock," I said, trembling. If they were my Flock, where were they now? What happened to those people I felt feeling of love and care for? Where were they?!

Iggy felt me scared and sad through the air I guess, because he wrapped an arm around my shoulder and tenatively hugged me softly. He wanted to know if this was okay. If I still loved that boy I told him about. Even I didn't know if I did.

"Kari," he murmured my name quietly, as if my name was the sweet scent of sugar on the wind, "Kari. Why did you kiss me?"

"My memories," I responded, "I kissed that guy. His name was Aero." I felt Iggy tense and then remove his arm.

"Iggy," I pleaded, "I don't love him now. I don't know who he is. There's someone else now."

He looked at my face, leaning towards me. I leaned forward too. I was about to kiss him. Someone who was pure, unselfish, and unscarred. I pulled back.

"I'm sorry Iggy," I whispered. His eyes deadened. "I can't. I don't deserve your love or care. I'm not worthy of you, or of this."

Iggy's brows furrowed. "What do you mean you're not worthy?" he asked angrily, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. You're worth anything Kari, and everything."

"No!" I said, "I'm scum! I'm a horrible person! This is killing me! Iggy, I'm not just another experiment! I'm meant to-!" I clapped a hand over my mouth. Tears were streaming down my cheeks, leaving shining lines in the moonlight. No! I couldn't tell him! I won't endanger anyone else!

I hopped up and, still sobbing, jumped off the cliff and into the darkness below.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

But, being the selfish brat I am, I snapped open my wings with a flourish and soared off. I couldn't kill myself. I didn't deserve Iggy, but I couldn't take what would happen to him if I committed suicide. And Derrick. Oh God Derrick.

"Kari! Kari, wait!" I heard Iggy yell from behind me. No, I didn't stop for him. He caught up to me, being a faster, stronger guy and all that. He reached out in mid – flap and grabbed my wrist. I tried to jerk it away, but with all the pain in my head and the feeling of being weak, oh so weak, I just let him pull me to him. We landed awkwardly and I let him hug me from behind. I hung onto his arms like a child, an upset child. And that was really what I was.

"Kari, for whatever reasons you have, you're not worthless. I used to think that all the time after the scientists made me lose my sight," Iggy whispered into my hair. I clutched him harder. I never wanted to let go.

"All this time," Iggy said, "And I still don't know what you look like." He smiled wryly. I turned around in his arms and unlatched my arms.

"You can see me," I said. I pulled up one of his pale, beautiful hands to my face. "You can see me," I repeated, "Through your other senses. You don't need sight to see."

His hand stroked my cheekbone, making me shudder into his touch. "I still want it," he said, "I still want to see." He took his other hand up to my face and brushed his fingers around my skin. Memorizing my facial structure. Memorizing me through touch. Amazing.

I released a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding and brought a hand up to wipe away my tears. Somehow, they were still flowing. From happiness? I have no idea. Iggy noticed and licked away the bead of salt from the corner of my eye with his tongue. I gasped and blushed really deep.

"Kari," he said slowly, "You're not worthless at all." He hugged me again and I laid my head on his chest. Iggy. And that was all I needed. That was all I wanted. I was content.

I woke up the next morning, back in the cave and curled up next to Iggy. I yawned. Ever had one of those mornings when you feel more tired than when you went to sleep? I rubbed my sore eyes. I felt exactly like that. Blagh.

I pulled my hair back into a ponytail. Time to cut it again. I stepped out into the light and saw the Flock hanging around, basking in the sunlight.

"Hi everyone," I said, sure I looked like death. They all turned and nodded. What?

I came up to where Iggy was. "What's happening?" I asked.

"Max's Voice is saying that it's time to move. Erasers and those new things are coming," he whispered.

I nodded as Max turned with a grimace on her face, "Okay people, time to go."

We lifted off and flew, wings beating in time. I was filled with joy. Oh, the feel of the wind rushing against your face! At that time, I noticed a small brown dot flying towards us. I focused.

"Derrick!" I screamed.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

He was flying towards us awkwardly, like a huge ugly pelican or something. He was dirty, but that didn't keep me from tackling him in a hug in mid-air.

"Derrick!" I said, "Where have you been?!" I hugged him super hard.

"God Kari! You're going to break my ribs!" he wheezed. He finally pried me off him. I stared sheepishly at the Flock.

"Um, guys?" I said, "This is my brother, Derrick." I elbowed him in the ribs.

"Yeah, hi," he said. I didn't miss how his eyes slid to Max. Don't even try, moron. You'll get your butt kicked by Fang. I knew he was going to try though.

"This is Angel, Gazzy, Nudge, Iggy, Max, and FANG," I said, pointing to each person. I shot Fang a glare. He had seen Derrick eyeing Max too, and black electricity was crackling in his eyes and fingers.

I flew back over to the Flock, "These guys were nice enough to save and watch over me."

"Okay," Max said, eyeing Derrick's grunge and raising her eyebrows, "Introductions over. Now I think you might want to clean up after we find somewhere safe."

We started flying again, Derrick lagging behind at a snail's pace.

"So," I said, "What's your story?"

"You blew up the forest. I watched these guys take you. I headed west. I just had a feeling. Then I saw a headline in a nearby town that said, 'Unexplained explosion takes place in forest south of small town'. I came here, and met up with you," he said, basic as usual.

"Right," I said.

"Hey," he whispered, "That girl, Max, is she single?"

I smacked him upside the head, "No. She's got Fang. Get over yourself."

He rubbed his head and glared, but in his eyes I could see that glimmer of a challenge. Max and Fang, or Max and him. Derrick obviously didn't know who he was up against. Not like I was going to tell him. I wanted to see how this all turned out.

The hair prickled on the back of my neck and I did an aerial 360. What the heck?

"Yo! Max!" I called out, "Since when can Erasers fly?!"

She looked behind me and wheeled around. "Get ready for a fight guys!" she called out.

The cloud of flying Erasers circled us. "Hey Maxy!" one of them called out playfully. Ari.

And revived from my own personal hell? The lovely image of Jakob. "Hello hothead," he said, licking his lips. Ew, nasty.

I felt Derrick tensing next to me. I turned to look at a sheer mask of hatred on his face. "What's wrong?" I whispered.

He glanced at me with incredulously. "Don't you remember? Jakob–!" He was punched in the side of the face hard by – oh, speak of the devil and the devil shall appear – Jakob.

"Sorry idiot," he grinned nastily, not sorry at all, "She's not supposed to know that yet." He drew back his hand and punched Derrick in the mouth. I heard his jaw crack.

"YOU JERK!!!" I said, not thinking as I punched his nose in, blood flowing in rivulets down his muzzle. He swiped at my arm, raking it slightly with his claws. And then doing so, he dropped Derrick, groaning painfully, into the air. He caught himself, holding firm, and flew up next to me.

"ATTACK!" I yelled into the sky, not caring if anyone heard me or not. But the Flock and Derrick followed my battle cry anyways, and we swooped into the fight.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

I did a karate – like kick into an Eraser's chest, with all my fury, and felt his chest cave in. I watched him fall a long way down into the trees, his mouth oozing blood. Whoops.

I glanced toward everyone else. Fang was blasting huge swaths of darkness across the sky, turning Erasers into red (blood and other stuff) clouds of mist. Angel was making Erasers drop like rocks into the forest, Iggy was blowing holes in bodies, and the rest, including me, were kicking butt.

My wings were suddenly grabbed from behind and bent painfully. Hairy arms snaked around my body, groping me disgustingly. I kicked someone in the happy place with my heel and was let go.

Jakob leered at me, wincing slightly. "Pervert!" I yelled before doing a series of different kicks that must've hurt. His head snapped to the sides many times before he had the sense enough to claw me deep in the calf. I yelped and drew back.

Then I heard a whirring above my head, making my hair stirr and feel alive. I looked up and saw the helicopters, already oozing swarms of more flying Erasers. We didn't stand a chance against more reinforcements. Oh crap, the shark thingys were even here, flying in on reptilian and bone looking wings.

"Guys, move!" I yelled, "I'll handle it!" Max looked into my eyes, probably cloaked over in bloodlust, and dove. Her the leader, me the loose cannon ready to kill or be killed. In this type of hopeless situtation, I won.

All the others followed, even Derrick, half-confused and half-panting after Max. Angel held the ones trailing the Flock at bay. I squared off against Jakob and that Ari dude. Both looked at me evilly. I opened my mouth and screamed the highest I could. Both clutched their ears in pain, trickles of blood running down their hands from their busted eardrums.

Wait for it. EEEEEEEE-BOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!! The sound was screechingly high for a couple seconds, then the entire sky seemed to implode on itself. My sky turned pure white and I saw the black/red outlines of the Erasers and thingys and helicopters (oh my!) before they got sucked up into the blinding void. Disinigrated, I guess.

I saw the huge chunk of flaming metal from what was once a helicopter too late and dove, getting hit roughly and painfully in the back. What was probably blacked flesh and cloth now made way for streams of blood to roll down and soak my jeans. I cried out in pain, flapping higher. The scent of burnt ozone and flesh wafted through the air. I choked on the thick, roiling smoke.

And then my tunnel of light was getting smaller, the flash fading from the sky. Black crept around the edges of my vision. I realized with a start, that there was no one now to catch me if I fell. My wings folded and I collapsed, dropping like a stone. I swam through the darkness in my head, trying to stay conscious, trying to wake up and fly away.

I was about to lose it when I hit something hard with a sickening crunch. Oh, the ground. My wings and legs and arm, I couldn't move them. Wet and warm slid down in spouts. A screaming pain spread throughout my body and whatever consciousness I had left, I let go of it, slipping into the dark abyss beneath me.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

I was covered in darkness, bathing in darkness, inhaling dark ooze from wherever the heck I was. Seriously, I felt like – like, God, I can't even describe it! Just remember - black. I was there for what felt like forever.

Then this pinpoint of light broke through the oozing dark. Oh great, now I'm dying, right? Lovely. Just happy – splendiforus. Perfect.

Oh, and now what? Yay, now I'm floating towards the light. La la la. I was almost there, it was getting wider. Nope, but no heaven or hell for me. I'll make a detour instead.

I turned right and floated towards another tunnel, but this one was a lightish blue. The sky! I was waking up! Then I turned again and pictures assaulted my eyes. Memories.

A girl in pink was charming the snot out of the Eraser guards in front of her. They seemed to have fallen in love with her. She turned and smiled at me.

"I have a power Kari!" she exclaimed, excited. Falon – my brain registered her. She was blond with bright blue eyes. Kinda like Angel. Her wings were a creamy cotton-candy and lemon mix. She looked like a preteen. Then out of nowhere some random dark kid about the same age phased through the wall and stood there. He looked like Fang sorta. His wings were different shades of the sameish color. One gray, one coal-black. Gray eyes stared defiantly at me through shaggy black and gray – streaked hair.

"Phantom!" Falon exclaimed, hugging him. He grimaced at me behind her back, but I saw a happy light in his eyes. Oh, lovebirds. He tried to pull away from her after a couple long seconds (guess it would damage his 'image') but was stuck in her grasp until he phased out of her grip. He didn't reappear again and Falon stood looking at thin air.

"I'll go look in the other room for him," she said as she used the door to get out, her Eraser guards following her in a stupor. Phantom appeared next to me, smirking weirdly before walking through the wall again. Gosh, use a door, kid!

I followed him (not through the wall!) into the other room where an extremely pretty Asian girl, who I saw before, was playing patty-cake with a little blond haired boy. It appeared the boy had slipped up on a move and the girl was giggling. A small cloud appeared over her head and started raining. She sighed and patiently pushed her deep – brown hair out of her face, showing her emerald eyes.

"That was not very nice, Clowd," she said. He smiled and a gust of wind swept thorough the room, drying her hair.

"Thanks buddy," she said. He smiled and said around the thumb in his mouth, "Welcome Robyn."

Derrick sidled up behind Robyn and slipped a hand around her waist. She yelped and punched him in the gut. He wheezed and released her.

"Do not be getting any ideas, pervert!" she yelled. She stalked off to my side.

"Kari, no offense to your brother, but I would really love to kill him," she growled. In my memory, I stifled a laugh. I felt an arm slide around my waist this time and looked up, tense into the eyes of some kid. Oh, Aero. That was it. Aero, 16, able to substitute one matter for another, brown eyes, golden – brown hair, average build, 6'6", weight of 118 pounds, my boyfriend.

'BOYFRIEND??' My present voice screamed, 'I DON'T HAVE A BOYFRIEND!!'

'Yes, you do,' My past voice said calmly, 'Watch.'

A heated scene unfolded before my eyes between Aero and I. We were both kissing madly.

'EEK!' I shrieked, 'WHAT AM I??!! OHMYGOD!! TURN IT OFF!!'

The memory faded abruptly and my past self whispered, 'Kari. Calm down, girl. It's okay. You loved him.'

I wasn't aware that there were tears dripping down my face until they seeped into my mouth. I rubbed my face with an arm. 'Loved,' I replied bitterly, 'Loved. What happened to love? What happened to my Flock?'

'All in due time,' past – me said, 'I'll still be here when you wake up. I'll still be here until all of your memories come back.'

'So what happens now? Am I really dying?' I asked, 'Will I ever see Max and her Flock again?'

'Why Kari, this entire time that you've been talking to me, you've been awake . . .' It giggled as the sky opened up between my eyelids, 'See you later, I'll be back . . .'

I just let the tears run down my face until there was no water left to cry.


	23. Chapter 23 Part 1

Chapter 23, Part 1

It was dark outside. The sun let the tiniest sliver of light out from behind its cover of the horizon. I hacked and coughed for a long time after my crying spell, blood running down the corners of my mouth in thick rivulets.

'Why am I in so much pain?' I thought, 'Where is everyone else?'

'They're searching for you, they're safe for now,' past/present/future me said, 'Kari, you're dying. You have broken both legs, your wings, your arm, your ribs, they're all completely shattered by the impact; you're lucky you didn't break your neck. You are bleeding profusely and are in danger of sinking into a coma soon without help.'

'Lovely,' I replied, 'Any good news?'

'Uh . . . no, not really,' inner me (that's what I dub it now) said, 'But you can save yourself.'

'How?' I asked weakly, feeling a cold feeling creeping throughout my body.

'Just sing,' inner me said, fading, 'Sing to live, sing to heal, just sing something before you die.'

'How much time do I have left to live?' I asked.

'Less than half an hour,' inner me whispered, disappearing with a tiny popping noise.


	24. Chapter 23 Part 2

Chapter 23, Part 2

So, to live I had to sing. Well, I could barely sing with broken ribs, could I? And listening to myself sing = craptastic. I could sing decently, but I hated to. Why? It's kind of like a little kid with new food. If no one watches them eat it and praises them, then they subconsciously hate to eat that food.

I'm not an attention seeker, but really I had nothing to sing about. Singing wasn't really my thing anyways. Screaming and yelling were always good options. What if I screamed myself healthy?

I forced my jaw open and sucked in a huge breath of air. My ribs crackled and made blood spew out of my mouth. I coughed for a couple minutes, each breath piercing my lungs.

So. Dying. Dying = bad. But what was there to lose, really?

'Derrick,' my mind said, 'He can't survive on his own, the klutz.'

'Iggy,' my mind responded instantly, 'You could lose Iggy.'

"I'm not good for Iggy," I whispered out loud, "I don't deserve him, even if he says I do."

'But you love him,' my mind responded.

"But I love him," I replied grudgingly.

'Then sing for him.'

I opened my mouth and sang.


	25. Chapter 23 Part 3

Chapter 23, Part 3

'_Maybe the grass is greener,_

_On the other side,_

_But I swear, I just wish I could just,_

_Stay alive.'_

_'I know what it is like,_

_I know what it is I seek,_

_And that I swear is true,_

_For your face, I just want a peek. _

_Peek.'_

_'My feelings are so strong for you,_

_I don't know where I am,_

_And I swear, oh my baby darling,_

_I just ran and ran.'_

_'For you, oh my baby darling,_

_I would swim the seas,_

_I would climb all the mountains to just,_

_See if you loved me._

_You loved me._

_Oh, if you loved me._

_Oh, yeah._

_I would swim all the seas.'_

Sappy and weird, I know,but give me some credit, I was making this up as I went along. And it turned out okay. More than okay. I was healing.


	26. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

My entire body lifted off the ground and floated there. What the _h_?

High keening started in my ears. Where was it coming from?! I turned my head one way and then the other. And I realized it was me.

A yellow glow started to envelope my body from the head down to my feet and whirled around me. Like a demented, happy sandstorm. . . . I should really find better similes.

Anyways, I couldn't see, couldn't do anything but float (not by my own power), so I might have been imagining the rustle of wings and the "Kari!"

The healing process was beginning, but I, too tired and weak to care, just closed my eyes and let it be.

I woke up with an 'oomph' spilling out of my mouth, arms holding me up bridal – style. I looked up into Iggy's clouded blue eyes.

"Kari, you okay?" he asked softly.

I stroked his dirty blond hair. "Fine," I whispered. He relaxed his arms and I slipped to the ground, balancing on wobbly feet in the acrid grass. I must've burned it in the healing process. Or maybe I sucked the life force from it. Weird.

I fell forward into Iggy's chest, and wrapped my arms around him, letting me hug him.

"Kari . . ." he murmured into my hair. I hugged him tighter. "I'm glad you're alright. I heard your song Kari, it was beautiful."

"It was for you," I whispered. I heard a disgruntled 'ahem' from behind Iggy. We both blushed, seeing the Flock standing there grinning at us, good - naturedly and disgustedly.

"Get a room," Fang smiled.

"Get one yourselves," Iggy retalited, making Max and Fang both blush crimson. Well, Max more than Fang.

Derrick sidled up to me, and hugged me roughly. "You try to die again and you're in big trouble," he said.

"I'll try to pencil it in. 'Do not die for fear of death,'" I muttered sarcastically into his shoulder, hugging him back. Ah, I love my idiot.

I pulled back, wrinkling my nose, "Shower, Derrick!" He frowned at me until I broke his gaze, "Everyone all right?" The Flock nodded.

Max glared sadly at me. I grinned toothily back. She would have to catch me and kill me if she thought I was going to submit to her lecture. Yeah, yeah, I knew I totally deserved it. A LOT.

Let's see, through the last two days I fell in love with Iggy, brought a lecherous sibling of mine to oogle her, almost killed everyone with my explosion. Yup, if she took out a gun and shot me, I wouldn't have been surprised.

She gave a tired sigh and said in a world-weary voice, "Come on, let's settle down for the night."


	27. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

I was poked awake by Max for my watch with her. Great. Well, she still didn't trust me. She definitely had no reason to. With my past and present colliding into one huge, sickening drama-horror story. And now I was going to get grilled by the boss. I gave a grimace as I sat up and scotched over to Max. I felt sore all over. Yeah, almost dying can probably do that to you.

Max gave me a swift, appraising look as I crouched next to her. "Kari-," she began. I cringed.

"I don't know how to say this, but thank you," she said. I breathed out, relieved.

"You almost killed us," she said, "Not like that doesn't happen almost every day." She chuckled to herself. "But you ended up saving us from dying, yet again, and almost hurt yourself in the process."

I nodded. "So please accept my apologies. I've treated you like an outsider. You'll never be one of us, but we'll be close enough. And you can be with Iggy if you want. I've seen his face light up when he sees you. It's similar to Fang with me. He's happy. He loves you. So if you're the thing that'll make him happy, then you can be together."

I gave Max a grin, "That sounds like you're giving him away to the groom, but thank you. I would never hurt him." At least I hoped.

"Kari, Kari, wake up," a voice hissed insistently in my ear. I rolled over, muttering. The person jabbed me in the side and I bit back a shriek, jumping up. How could they have known I was ticklish there?!

"Good, you're awake," Iggy whispered, "C'mon." I groaned softly and rubbed my eyes. Could I ever sleep in more than 5? I walked with him up a dirt trail. He grabbed my hand, smiling shyly. I felt a blush rise to my cheeks. Thank goodness Iggy couldn't see that!

"So Kari," he said as we came to the top of a hill, "What's the sunrise look like?"

The sun rose just then. Nice timing, Ig. "Beautiful. It's got pinks and yellows and oranges all swirled together like a painting. It's amazing," I said.

I blushed again. He was staring straight at me. "That's not the only thing beautiful and amazing this morning," he said, sweeping a piece of hair behind my ear. I felt a tremor run through me. He felt it too, and grinned.

"So, what would you do if I kissed you right now?" he whispered into my ear, sending shivers down my body.

"I might kiss you back," I reply, smiling. Okay, so I didn't deserve this in the very least, but hey, if I could, I should, right?

He leaned in close to me, "I almost lost you, Kari. If that happens again, I might not have time to say this."

Dramatic pause. "I love you."

Then he hugged me close, and tilted my head up. I could feel my eyes burning from emotion. He touched his lips to mine, once, twice, each longer than the last. Tender, but sad. Sweet. Loving.

"I love you too," I whisper against his cheek, "I love you." And as the sun rises behind us, and my emotions running rampant, setting off small explosions in the distance, I just want time to stop. Freeze for this moment. Forever.


	28. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Unfortunately, forever is impossible. We had to pull apart eventually, reluctantly, and head back. It was hard to act normal when you feel like flying to the stars. Or if you were trying to. And had wings.

I gave a fond peck on Iggy's cheek before we headed back to the campsite. I sadly dropped his hand, not wanting to attract attention to ourselves, but Iggy, being the cheeky idiot he is, instead wound an arm around my waist. I blushed. What would the kids think?!

They thought a lot of it. Derrick sputtered and choked on his own spit, while Nudge yakked her mouth off. Fang and Max gave us both secret grins, showing their own together-ness off.

I saw Derrick sneaking secret looks at Max. I gave a loud 'hmph' in irritation. When would he learn the way to a girl's heart (in most cases I would hope) is to NOT be a pervert?

Max winced suddenly and held her temples. Fang looked at her concernedly. Why?

"So guys, who wants to get out of here before the squad of Erasers finds us?" she asked, "U and A, stat."

I glided along the air currents, loving the lazy feel of the warm air whispering around my feathers. I had Max next to me, Fang next to Max, Iggy next to Fang (darn it) and the little-un's practically clinging to our sneakers. Wait. Where was Derrick? Oh, behind Max.

Bet you could probably guess what he was doing. I silently swooped above Derrick. He was so concentrated on what he was doing (ew) that he didn't notice the Kari-shaped shadow above him until it was too late. I dive-bombed him and sent him tumbling down a couple hundred feet.

"Ha! Take that, you pervert!" I shouted down to him. He flipped me off, and I dive-bombed him again. This time though, he crash-landed in a cluster of trees.

"You looked like a B24-bomber! So cool!" Gazzy said. It was then that he let loose this huge fart. He giggled as we choked and held our noses, eyes watering. I gasped for air and flew lower. Disgusting.

"Way to try and put us in comas!" Iggy yelled, coughing. The rest of the Flock dropped down like stones beneath the cloud of coma-inducing-ness. I circled and landed near the trees, watching Derrick crunch out of some branches, spitting out leaves.

He started to say something nasty, but I set his hair on fire by screeching quickly. He ran around in a panic, screaming like a little girl, smacking the flames on his head down until they were gone. He glared at me. Aren't we loving siblings?

The Flock was rolling around on the ground, clutching their sides in complete mirth. Was it that funny? I guess so. From their point of view and all, it must've looked kinda like the air above Derrick's head spontaneously combusted. I giggled, imagining what that must've looked like.

Max, gasping for breath, eventually got out. "How 'bout we take a short break and clean ourselves up?"


	29. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

That short break turned out to be a long one. We flew to a normal sized town, landing about a mile away and walked, and then rented two connecting rooms in a decent motel with the help of the Maximum Ride credit card. And Angel's mind control, when the lady tried to question us thoroughly. She gave us our room keys, looking dazed, and waved us down the hall, disappearing behind her desk muttering something about 'finding an aspirin for this –BEEPing- headache'.

Max and Fang slung their backpacks on the bed, and started pulling out the grimiest clothes I had ever seen. They looked over the pile and grimaced in synch. There were holes in everything. Bugs or mice or wear-and-tear I guess.

Max gave a sigh and whipped out the platinum rectangle. "Who wants to go shopping?" she said, making a face.

"Max? Maaaaaaaax? Max, please? Pleeeeease with ice cream and cherries and sprinkles and chocolate and cookies and whipped cream and caramel on top? Pleeeeeeeeease?" Nudge whimper/shouted. She had her hands clasped in front of her with her head all poking out and her eyes huge and melancholy. Max gave a huge groan and looked up at the sky. Oh, the puppy eyes.

Looking up at the sky must've been a bad thing, because Max's foot caught a crack in the ground and sent her sprawling onto the pavement. She held her scraped hands over her mouth as she let out a string of muffled curses. I could already imagine there were bruises swelling on her knees, lovely black and purple ones.

The Flock was laughing loudly, even Fang was snickering. Derrick - well – he was doing what he did best. I karate-chopped him in the back of the neck. He yelped as his head buckled.

(Cuss word)(Cuss word)(Cuss word)

"Language!" Iggy shouted as I smacked Derrick across the face.

"Watch it!" I said, "There are little kids here!" The kids though, had a mixture of shock, awe, and amusement on their faces.

Derrick fought the urge to reply back to me, but a murderous glare from Fang and Max shut him up. He would probably get back at me later. Gotta be on my guard.

Then Max made the immense mistake of looking at Nudge, who still had her puppy eyes on. She sighed loudly and led us into the parking lot of the mall in front of us. Fang had a weird look on his face, most likely: 'You're such a sucker for the puppy-dog eyes.'

I froze as soon as we entered the mall. I could hear the automatic A/C whirring softly, but what was really prominent was the gabbing of hundreds of voices. People flooded in and around us, making me want to rush out that door and never look back. My legs trembled and sweat began to bead on my forehead. CLAUSTROPHOBIA. Oh my god.

Oh my god.

Run.

Don't look back.

Just run (screaming if you must) out those doors and far, FAR away.

Max touched my shoulder comfortingly, murmuring, "Just relax a tad. I know it's hard. If there's trouble though, there's trouble. You're too tense; you're attracting too much attention." I looked around at The Flock, all looking at me concernedly, and the crowd of people. A couple had out their cell phones. Uh-oh.

Derrick came in the nick of time, "Jessica, did you forget your ADD medicine again this morning?" He smiled sadistically at me. Jerk. But there were people watching.

I stretched my face into a whacked-out grin and nodded, replying in a high-speed/high-pitched voice. "'tlikethemandI'?!?!?!?!" I shrieked. People stared, but shrugged it off as I twitched in their midst, mostly from humiliation.

Derrick was a dead man.


	30. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

"Okay," Max said bossily, "We're gonna walk around a bit before we choose a couple stores."

People, people, so many people! Augh! I took my hand and began chomping on the skin around my nails.

My other hand was taken by Iggy's reassuring grip. Aw. "What are you doing, Kari? You keep moving," he complained.

"It's nervous energy from the claustrophobia," I explained, "I'm being a cannibal and chewing off my own skin." Iggy made a face.

"Don't eat my hand! I need it!" he pleaded. I chuckled and moved his hand up to my mouth, kissing it.

"I wouldn't eat your hand, I love you," I replied. He gave a fake sigh of relief and I squeezed his fingers.

"Ooh, ooh! Max! Can we go in there?! It's got pretty clothes! And look! That girl has wings like us!" Angel said, pointing excitedly. Nudge squealed along with her, "Yeah Max, you'd look beautiful in those clothes!" I raised my eyes to look at the store's sign. Oh God. Then I directed my eyes to the portrait Angel was pointing at.

I snickered, embarrassed. We were in front of an oh-so-wonderful store. It was Victoria's Secret. And that was a Victoria's Secret Angel in skimpy lingerie. Max blushed like she'd swallowed a whole bottle of hot sauce. Fang was staring at the Angel with a slightly blank look on his face. Ew, was that drool? Max saw and smacked him upside the head. Derrick was oogling the entire store window, full of busty pictures. Ick.

"Kari? What's going on? Where are we?" Iggy asked innocently.

"In front of Victoria's Secret," I muttered, blushing as Iggy stared intently at me.

"Wonder how'd you look in something from that store?" he whispered in my ear.

"Pervert!" I hissed, pinching him hard in the arm.

"Um, let's move on!" Max said, practically dragging Fang away. Gazzy followed, a wondering look on his face. We followed along with the rest of the little kids. Oops, Derrick. I grabbed a random Frisbee from a nearby car vendor and chucked it at him. It flew with perfect accuracy and conked him in the back of the skull with a loud 'thonk'ing noise.

He turned, rubbing his head and flipped me off again. "Time to go, lech!" I yelled loudly. People turned to look at Derrick with disgusted faces.

"Miss, miss!" the car vendor employee called, "You need to fill out a car warranty slip for your free Frisbee and hat!" I looked down my nose at him. Slightly stuck-out front teeth, brown eyes, nerdy uniform.

"I'm sorry," I cooed, winking, "But I'm late for a meeting with my friends. Could you please retrieve it?" The car vendor gulped and nodded, racing off to where the Frisbee landed. I jerked Iggy's hand.

"Let's go before nerd-o comes back," I said, pulling Iggy along. We were already far behind Max.

He pouted, dragging his heels. "Are you upset 'cause I fake-flirted with Mr. Desperate Housewife?" I asked, "C'mon, you know you're way cuter." I nuzzled his neck to show it.

"Kidding!" he grinned, pulling me to him.

"Kari!" Derrick said, glowering, "Who's this?" He shot Iggy a death glare. Uneffective.

"Iggy," I said, "Derrick, Iggy. Iggy, Derrick." Iggy stuck out his hand. After a few seconds, he dropped it when Derrick didn't shake.

"Um," Iggy muttered, "I'm getting bad vibes. This guy's, like, out to kill me." I laughed. Fang then suddenly skidded to a stop between us.

"Yo!" he said, "C'mon!"

"Are we seriously stopping here?" I asked, staring at the storefront.

"That's my question," Max asked wearily, "But first stop is Fang's choice from the draw. And it's here."

Emo scrawl covered the entrance. It said 'Hot Topic' in dark, dripping red. Fang gave a half-smile and walked inside. "Under 30 bucks, Fang," Max called to his back. He gave a wave and disappeared into the Goth Palace. We all sat down on a bench nearby.

"Max, Max, can we have some quarters? There's a bubble gum machine and we've never had gum before!" Nudge begged with her puppy eyes. Max dug into her pocket and came up with some weathered change, sighing. Nudge grinned and raced off to the gum machine with Gazzy and Angel.

"Hey," Derrick said as soon as the little kids were a couple meters away, "You're Max, right?" Max glanced at him warily, nodding. "Well, you're so hot, you make the stars dim," he said, "Call the cops, this girl's under arrest for beauty." She burst out laughing, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. Derrick looked downcast, and tried again.

"Babe, your lips are the perfect match for mine," he said. Max was still laughing. I was too, and Iggy. I hiccupped. Ow. Too much laughter! *Hic*-ow.

"If I'm wood, you set me on fire," he said, leaning in to her face. I saw Fang emerging from Hot Topic, bags clutched under his arm. He made a beeline for Derrick, hands crackling. At that moment I hiccupped again, causing a small explosion on Derrick's shoulder, by accident. Fang stopped and smirked.

"Yeah baby, you'd set me on fir-," Derrick repeated, "Augh! Augh! Ow! Kari!" He patted out the flame, wincing.

"Spontaneous combustion?" A man whispered to his lady-friend. She shook her head quietly and they headed off muttering suspiciously, but it looked like they were going to keep it to themselves. I put my hand over my mouth to stop laughing and counted to 20. Gone.

Fang wandered over to Max, where she was still laughing. "26 dollars, 47 cents," Fang said, handing her the change.

"Hey, we're back!" Nudge said, chewing a green-colored gum, "It was so hard to choose, but I got green apple, Gazzy got banana, and Angel got pink lemonade. Oh, we got you guys some too! And look what I can do!" She sucked in a huge breath of air and made a whistling noise through her gum. Everyone laughed.

Nudge handed me a colored orb. White. I stuck it in my mouth and chomped down. Ew, coconut! But at least it had the bonus of something to worry other than my nails. "Well, check this out!" I said, chewing furiously, ready to show off. I blew a huge bubble until it popped on my nose.

"Cool! Teach me! I wanna know how to do that!" The little kids said, crowding around me. I showed them over and over while we walked until they got it. The older kids got it too.

"I don't get it," Iggy frowned, "How do you do that? I just hear a random popping noise!"

I blew a bubble and took Iggy's hand. He felt the balloon. "This is filled with air from my lungs, the sticky substance is holding it inside. But when you poke a hole in it," I explained, demonstrating by jabbing Iggy's finger in, "It deflates. In order to make this bubble you have to chew the gum until it's pliable. Then you mash it into sort of a round flat disc with your tongue against your front bottom teeth. When you feel ready, you stick your tongue in the middle of the gum and blow out the air in your lungs."

"Thank you Einstein," Iggy muttered, popping the gum in his mouth. It took him a few times, and an incident where he accidentally spit it out on his shirt, but he finally got it.

"Nice," I commented after one almost a big as his head.

"Yup," he agreed, "But you've got to have a pretty skillful tongue to figure this out." He glanced at me, winking. "Where'd you learn it?"

"Robyn," I replied instantly. Robyn. My best friend. Where was she? I got to thinking. Where could she be?

_Do you really want to know?_ That voice was back.

'What I'd really like to know is who's talking to me,' I complained.

_You didn't figure it out yet? Boy, you must be clueless. Kari, I'm your spirit, your fire, the thing that burns deep within your soul. I'm your mind. And I'm sticking around until you figure out what happened._

'When will that be, great poetic soul o' mine?' I asked sourly.

_3 nights from now. You will get a special memory that night._


	31. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

So I have to wait three nights. Great. Something else to worry about. I rubbed my eyes. Gah, I needed sleep. Nrgh.

"This looks fine," Max said, stopping in front of an Old Navy.

"No, no! Can we go there?" Nudge asked. She was pointing to Hollister and Company. I watched as two girls with fake spray-on tans and make-up caked on their faces came out of the store, chatting.

"What a bargain!" said the one with teeny shorts. COUGHS-LUTCOUGH. "It only cost me 220 for those jeans and matching tank with that jacket!" They giggled together and headed off in the direction of the nearest Starbucks. Eugh, preps.

"Er, I think not," Max said, pulling us inside the store.

I won't really bore you with all of the clothes shopping, but we eventually found everyone clothes and got Angel and Gazzy out of the racks where they were playing tag.

With all of us, it took a huge chunk of money out of the endless account, but nonetheless we all gave a visible cringe when the register rang.

So, loaded down with bags, we made our way through the mall, hacking our gum, when Iggy spat his out quickly into his hand and started making gulping noises. WTF?!

"Iggy? Iggy?! Are you choking?!" I asked. He opened his mouth in response. His tongue was like, swollen and red!

"Eek!" I screeched, "Are you allergic to gum?!" I steered him toward a water fountain where he gratefully gulped down water, though not very gracefully with his huge slug of a tongue hanging out there. "Did you Iggy was allergic?" I asked concernedly to Max, who shook her head.

"We've never had gum before, that's why," she replied, looking at Iggy. She helped him over to a chair. We all stood over him as he laboriously breathed. I sat in the chair next to him and stroked his hair. His really long hair. He needed a haircut. Like the rest of us, I thought, as I looked around the circle. Seriously though, we were gonna need weed-whackers for our haircuts.

"Oh my gosh, do you need help?" Some random girl said as she came up and perched on my chair. Yeah, thanks for the view of your BUTT.

"We don't need any help," Max replied for me, her voice visibly hardening, "Go prance away now." I snickered behind my hand. The girl seriously looked like something out of the Sound of Music. A long skirt, a pastel top, ribbons in her hair . . .

"Is he allergic?" the girl asked, blantantly ignoring Max's insult, "I have an allergy pill for food." She shoved a purplish pill into my hand out of her bag. "Take it with water!" she said as she sincerely pranced away.

Max and I looked at the pill with critical eyes. Poison? Test drug? Iggy made a sick choking noise next to us as he tried to breathe. We had no choice. Take the plunge or let Iggy die. Who knows, that girl could be just some random nice person, I thought as I helped Iggy swallow the pill with water. The swelling went down soon after he ingested it. He gave a cough and took in a long, shuddering breath. He would be all right.

"Operation Acute Hiemal Syndrome executed," the girl whispered into a mike taped to her neck, "Stand-by for condition report." She clicked off the mike with her finger and whispered, "This is for you all." The girl pressed a button implanted in her wrist. She gave a silent scream as she changed.

"Iggy, Iggy, are you seriously all right now?" I asked, kissing his brow.

"Fine," he rasped, reaching up a finger to smooth the wrinkled worry creases in my forhead, "I'm fine."

"Max?" I asked, "Can we just relax for a sec? Iggy needs to take a breather." He glared at me, but complied.

"Max, Max, can we get our hair cut? Kari thinks we all need to." Angel asked quietly.

Max gave a pointed look at me and then felt her own hair. She shook her head and blew a split-ended wisp of her hair out of her face. "Agreed. We all need to relax and remember we're people too once in a while," she said, giving Angel a smile, "With amazing abilities beyond anyone's dreams."


	32. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Walking into a Cost Cutters was easy. The hard part was not jumping out of our seats every time someone turned on a razor or opened the door. In the end though, I sort of relaxed. I mean, how could you when somebody other than yourself is gently scrubbing your scalp?

The hairstylist pushed my wet mane over my eyes and began snipping. I found it hard not to twitch. The last time I had heard that noise was when I was strapped to that cold metal table. Ugh. I watched the red strands of my hair float to the ground, looking for a pattern to keep myself amused and distracted.

"So what school do you go to?" the Southern-twangy hairstylist asked me. I jumped in surprise.

"Um, um . . ." I racked my brain for a school that I had maybe seen somewhere, "JFK High."

"Where?" the hairstylist asked.

"Uh, er, Alabama. My boyfriend has this tumor in his head and it has to be specially treated in some town near here. I forget which. So my parents let me out of school to be with him. His surgery was successful and I decided to celebrate by dressing up and cheering him up. Not that he could see me though. The surgery did something to his eyes, made him blind, you see," I rambled, lying through my teeth. The hairstylist (Betty, her nametag said) nodded in defiant sympathy as she deftly snipped an another chunk of hair off. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Iggy's mouth trying to twitch in a smile while not letting his hairstylist see.

"So, how's school then?" Betty asked. I grimaced slightly. What was this, 20 Questions?! She kept on bombarding me with the questions until I felt like duct-taping her face shut. I talked as long as I could lie about a specific topic before she could pin another question on me. But as soon as she finished fluffing my hair to 'perfection' I regretted thinking anything.

My hair was short, shorter than I was used to, about shoulder-blade length and it was super layered. I rubbed a finger along the straight, clean edges of my hair. I was beautiful. I loved it. I gave Betty a dazzling smile and hopped down from the chair, walking over to Max and the others, already done. Maybe because my hair was as thick as the Amazon rainforest before they started clear-cutting.

Angel had a super cute kind of bob haircut that the stylist had tweaked so all of her curls fell in the right place. She looked like Shirley Temple. Gazzy had it cut kinda close to his head with small sideburns and a little stick-up thing in front. Derrick, well, Derrick must've had the bad stylist because it was cut really close to his head. Maybe he wanted it that way. Or maybe I had singed it too deep to save. Ha.

Max had a cut similar to mine, but with a more diagonal-ish cut in the front. Nudge had the diagonal cut, but her messy hair had been straightened with a hot iron. Fang had it sort of layered in the back with his bang things flopping over his eyes, accenting the dark and light colors of them. And Iggy. Oh wow.

Iggy had super layers like me, but it sort of got flipped out straight a tad at the ends. It was like a surfer cut with the hair going diagonally down his face. Oh gosh. I liked it. Hee. I LOVED it. Love, love, love! I sincerely resisted the urge to touch it until we got out of the store.

"I like your hairstyle, Kari," he laughed, reaching out to touch the strands around my face.

"I like yours too," I said, snuggling into his chest. Aw. Wait. His cold chest. "Do you have a fever?" I asked.

"Nah, I think it might be this godforsaken freezing A/C," Iggy grinned. I smiled back at him. But inside I wasn't so sure. I'm a worrywart by nature, but it didn't feel like just worry. It felt absolute, but I shook it off anyway. What was the cost of freaking out everyone for something that could be false. Or true . . .

So basically we were almost mind-controlled into a fashion show by Angel and Nudge's scheming. It was interesting. That's all I have to say. Fang slouched down our 'runway' in black jeans, a tee that said "Think, it's not illegal yet" and a hoodie. He also bought another shirt that said: "I'm just one big f#&%*ing ray of sunshine, aren't I?" We all had to laugh at that one. I felt like part of the family. Even if I wasn't, and didn't deserve to be. But I mind as well be happy in the present. I guess.

Max had a tank top, hoodie and jeans. We all pretty much had that. As I said, not a very fun fashion show, mostly because we don't like to draw attention to ourselves, and also because, well, what's the point of strutting down an aisle like a peacock? Even if we are part bird.

I let my fingers casually brush Iggy's in a 'goodnight'. They were freezing. And the A/C wasn't even on. I looked at him clearly for the first time that night. All the other times had been side glances to see his laughing face. Now though, I was worried. Scratch that, I was panicking.

His lips were a pale blue and he was shivering violently. Though his eyes were clear and he spoke evenly, I knew something was wrong.

"Ig?" I asked tentatively, "Are you cold?"

"Uh, no," he replied, "I feel just fine." Oh God. There was something wrong with him after all.

"Max," I hissed, "Get your ass over here." She scowled at me.

"What?" she hissed back, trying not to wake the little kids who were in a dogpile fast asleep.

"C'mere," I said, not wanting to freak Iggy out. I whispered into her ear, "Something's wrong with Iggy; feel his skin." She reached out to touch him gently on the arm. Her eyes widened as the chill of his body was felt by her finger.

"Why does everyone keep touching me?" Iggy complained, "What is this? Some private joke? Oh, poke the blind kid, he doesn't know you're there."

"I wouldn't tease you, Iggy," I said, "But something's up. Down really."

"What?" he asked impatiently.

I hesitiated. "Your temperature and your chance of survival."


	33. Chapter 31 Part 1

Chapter 31, Part 1

"What is this? House?" he asked mockingly.

"Iggy. I'm not kidding. Something's wrong with you," I said.

"Sure there is. Yeah right. Seriously, Kari. I feel fine. Maybe a little sleepy, but fine," Iggy replied as he slowly started blinking his eyes shut.

"Nonononono Iggy, you've gotta stay awake," I said. He didn't listen and I slapped his arm hard. He yelped and growled fiercely at me.

"Kari, harrassment is a crime punishable by law," he said.

"And dying is a law punishable by me!" I cried out, smacking him awake again. He socked me back in the arm, grumbling, and rolled over. I rubbed my arm, the bruising already beginning, and bit back tears. I wanted to help. But how could I when he didn't want me to?


	34. Chapter 31 Part 2

Chapter 31, Part 2

Max pulled out a pocketknife and sliced open his palm, trying to get his attention. Blood that moved like goo spilled out, sorta jiggling. I gasped in horror at the sight. Fang, woken up from our chattering, raced over to the room we were in and winced.

"I knew something was up," Max said critically, "What can we do? What's happening?" She fought back tears too. Fang hugged her to his chest and looked in sadness at his best friend. I leaned forward towards Iggy and laid my cheek in his heart. His eyes fluttered as I Iistened to the slow beating of his heart.

"Kari, n-now that y-you mention it, I-I d-do feel kinda f-funny," Iggy moaned, shaking violently. His eyes closed and I felt the tears spill out. I felt like curling into a vulnerable ball. What could I do? I heard Max sniff strongly behind me, choking back her tears.

Fang looked at me instead of Iggy for a second, his laser-like gaze turning on me. "Save him," he ordered.

"I don't know how!" I cried.

He gave an exasperated sigh, "Heat him up, Kari, make him warm."


	35. Chapter 31 Part 3

Chapter 31, Part 3

I nodded, practically gluing myself to Iggy. "Wait," I paused, "I need to be somewhere where I won't set anything on fire." Fang nodded and Max, practically comatose, followed him to stand.

"We'll help you get out of town. Max, write a note," Fang said as Max bit her lip and scribbled down a messy note. It said: 'Be safe, we have to help Iggy. Be good and hopefully we'll be back in a couple days. Nudge, work with Derrick and take care of the Flock. Hopefully we can save Iggy before it's too late. Max.' She left it in the crook of Angel's elbow that held Total.

I threw open a window as Fang and Max dragged Iggy across the room. It was a clear night sky. I jumped out and grabbed Iggy's leg as they pushed him out the window, each of them hanging onto an arm. We hauled him across the city, having to fly slow. His cold body felt like a dead weight the farther we carried him.

I was so tired by the time we got to a flat, dry expanse of land that I felt like collasping, but I bravely held onto Iggy as I watched Max and Fang racing into the sky, looking for the Academy in Texas. Hopefully they wouldn't be long. I took a deep breath and sang a random tune. His hand twitched weakly. His temperature was dropping rapidly. Then I filled my lungs and screamed my heart out.


	36. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

(Fang's P.O.V.)

I felt bad. Max looked like she was going to fall apart, with her wingbeats slow and lethagic. I swooped down on her and tackled her from behind in midair. She gasped, realizing what was happening, and snapped out of it. Sorta. She really burst into horrified sobs and clung to my hand.

After what seemed like a while, she let go and drifted off. She had that really interesting hard look to her face. Like she would punch the next person who got on her nerves. Man, she must be really pissed at herself for breaking down when time was of the essence.

(Max's P.O.V.)

I felt like utter crap. One of my Flock was dying. I had broken down, which I hadn't done in a long time. And we were on a hopeless mission for a cure for a sickness that we had no idea what it was. Kari tried to give us directions to the Academy. Some Texas type of School. I dug my nails into my palm. Suck it up, girl. Part of your world is counting on you.

(Kari's P.O.V.)

I was baking. In my homemade hell. I set fire to the area around us, making a ring. Every time I had to draw a breath, the fire wavered slightly, having nothing to burn off of. My new clothes were singeing, dangit! I wiped the sweat of off Iggy's forehead. Still clammy. Still freezing. Still BAD.

(Max's P.O.V.)

Fang and I had been flying for 5 straight hours. I was soooooo tired. Worn out. Ka-peesh. I needed calories. 3,000 of them. Fang was looking dead on his feet too. I motioned to him.

"Town," I managed to croak out, my throat dry from lack of water. We hadn't had the time to grab anything but the credit card and now we were paying the price. Well, we could always chew the plastic in cases of EXTREME hunger. Not that it would be very filling.

Fang nodded. His hair and clothes seemed out of place here. Too nice to be with our grungy lifestyle. W swooped down on the nearest McDonald's and attacked.

"Three chicken selects, two french fries, a large drink and two McFlurries," I rasped. The lady (who had an unseemingly large weight problem) looked at me odd. She opened her mouth to comment on my food choice for just me when her supervisor came by.

"Give the lady what she wants," he said in an oily voice, looking at my chest. Gimme a break. Pervert. The cashier gave him a stiff nod and rang me up. When the food came up, wafting through my nose, it was like I had woken up. I grabbed the tray, gave a glare at the lecherous supervisor and headed off to a table where Fang was tearing into his Quarter Pounder.

I sucked down my food in record time and sat there contentedly. Until I felt a tug on my pocket. I turned around. I had been taught to pickpocket and pickpocket well. Some one had stolen my credit card. I needed that! I jumped up and dumped my tray in the trash, eyeing everyone in the restruant.

There! It was flashing silver on her black. It was a short gothic chick! She had it! I sped across the restaurant, Fang giving me a bewildered look, and out the door to the alley she had just walked into. She didn't have a chance. Unfortunately, the boot was on the foot. I was the one without a chance.


	37. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

(Nudge's P.O.V.)

I couldn't believe it! They left me behind! Those jerks! This was so unfair!

Gazzy apparently felt the same way as he smashed a plant into the ground, mashing it into the concrete. Yeah, we were left with Kari's brother, Derrick. He had taken us to a park. A park. I mean, jeez, what are we, 3? Well, Angel's close, but . . .

She looked at me. "I heard that," she pouted, "I'm not a little kid!" I sighed. Mind readers were not fun. Now, by now, I would've been spouting my mouth off about something. But here there was nobody to talk to except for Derrick, and he was off trying to woo some girl that was spilling out of her top. There was nothing to do but sit and fume. There was no way I was going to play babysitter to a grown kid. Angel and Gazzy I can take, but Derrick – Derrick can jump off a cliff with his wings closed.

He came back and sat on the bench. He had a bright red handprint slathered across his cheek. Nice.

"I don't like this," Gazzy said, stomping back, "We need to go help Max and Fang and Iggy and Kari."

Derrick leaned back, squinting into the sun and yawning like it was no big deal he had just been slapped and degraded. "Well guys, sorry, but I'm in charge and I say we wait until Max comes back for us."

I shouted, "Who says you're the boss?! The note said 'NUDGE, work with Derrick and take care of the Flock, not the other way around!"

He looked abashed, "Well . . . I'm older, so you have to do what I say!"

I snickered meanly, trying to get him off my back, "Ha! Your own sister doesn't listen to you and she's younger! Why should we?! We don't even know you! You don't even care about any of us!"

Angel interrupted in her Twilight-Zoney voice, "He cares about Kari. But he doesn't care about any of us. Only Max. He cares about Max. He wants to get her into bed with him. Nudge, what does that mean?"

I blushed in anger and humilation. My face hardened. "It means we're out of here, Angel!" I said as I snapped open my wings and flew into the sky.

(Kari's P.O.V.)

How long had it been? How long had I been in this inferno? I felt weak. Iggy wasn't getting any better. How futile was this try? To save his life? I loved him. But what if he didn't pull through? What if Max and Fang didn't get back in time? What if they did get back in time, but I couldn't go on? What if I failed? I gave a racking cough. I needed to help Iggy. I stood up, catching myself before I fell, and picked up Iggy. He was so heavy. I – I didn't have the strength to get him to somewhere warmer. I knelt down, falling to my knees and screamed still. Please hurry, Max.


	38. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

(Max's P.O.V.)

I skidded into the alley, feet burning rubber. I needed that card! No human could outrun a hybrid! I really didn't have to run for long though. The goth girl was right in front of me. Before I had time to spew a bunch of curses about her stealing, she opened her own mouth.

"Looking for this?" she said in a normal, bored tone.

"Yeah, give it back, unless you're looking for something of a different caliber," I snarled, clenching my fist.

"Caliber? Like a gun?" she asked sweetly, "Whatever are you talking about?" Wait, I knew that voice. It was –

"Like this sort of gun?" she asked, whipping a big honking one out of the folds of her skirt.

(Nudge's P.O.V.)

People were gaping at me, and even though it gave me a creeping feeling, that wasn't my number one priority. I beat the humid air with my wings and cursed silently under my breath. Derrick had Angel in a vise-grip, keeping her from flying to me, to safety and oppurtunity.

"I . . . won't be humilated . . . any longer! Espieceally not by . . . little kids!" he yelled. Angel was trying to sink her sharp little teeth into his arm and Gazzy was kicking and punching Derrick with all of his might. Total came racing in, barking and swearing like mad, (he had been sniffing some other dog's butt) and leaped at Derrick's leg. He bit down hard, and growled. Blood seeped into Derrick's new jeans.

"Let go of Angel!" I shouted. Angel gave a flashing grin at me and spoke softly under her breath. She was controlling him. A look suddenly came into his face and he dropped her, slumping to the ground. He held his face in his hands.

"What – what happened?" he asked, "Why am I so . . . angry?" Then he gave a short groan of pain and fell to the ground, twitching.

"Angel? Angel?!" I asked her worriedly, "What did you do to him?!"

She looked at him with her big blues full of shock, "Nothing. I didn't do a thing to him. Just asked him to let me go."

"Total!" I said, "What were you trying to do? Get Angel hurt?"

He spat out a piece of Derrick's pants, "I was defending her! Remember Max II? I didn't know if he was bad or not!"

Gazzy pulled out his leg from underneath Derrick's crumpled body, "What should we do now?"

I looked at all of the people eyeing us like we were freaks (which basically we were), too shocked to move or do anything. "Angel, wipe their memory of this, Gazzy, help me get Derrick back to the hotel," I ordered, "We've got a lot of ground to cover."


	39. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

(Max's P.O.V.)

Bullets bit the ground behind me, whizzing through the air. Fang came rushing into the scene from the alley door and did a sharp dive, to hit the ground and roll expertly behind a dumpster. I did a long skid, and crashed into Fang.

"What's happening?!" he mouthed silently.

"Dunno. She grabbed the credit card and started firing at me," I panted.

"What are you two yakking about?" the goth girl said, standing on top of the dumpster, smiling sadistically at us. She raised her gun again. Fang grabbed her ankle and pulled. She shrieked and accidentally pulled the trigger as she fell to the ground. The bullet flew down and buried itself in Fang's bicep. He gave a pain-filled yell, kicking the gun out of her hands and down the alley.

The gun skittered on the harsh concrete as Goth Girl (GG now) and I both dove for the gun. We collided. I raked my fingers on her face, leaving bloody streaks and giving myself the advantage to get the gun. Guns are stupid weapons, you don't even have a chance to protect yourself before -BAM!- you're dead. But better me wielding it then the psycho I was fighting with.

I grabbed the butt of the gun and dragged the heavy beast to me. It was then I heard a gunshot sound. Except no gun was fired. Nope. It was my ankle. GG had latched onto my ankle and broken it. Based on the sound, it sounded like it snapped in two clean pieces. I gave a scream and kicked her in the face with my other foot. God, that hurt! The pain was making me feel faint. And the swelling was already starting.

GG clenched her face in her hands and shrieked. I think I must've crushed her nose. There. A distraction. I had the opportunity to heave myself up against the wall, pointing the gun at the mysterious girl. She got up also and smiled at me again.

"Come ON, Max. We both know you don't have the guts," she kicked me in the stomach with lightning speed. I then barfed out all of my previous meal. And the ones before that. And anything I had ingested in my life.

I spit out some acid onto the pavement after I finished heaving and coughed. GG kicked me in the head and I went down, stars dancing before my eyes. She went to grab the gun from my outstretched fingers, but Fang came out of nowhere, grimacing in pain, and gave her a side kick that sent her flying into the alley wall.

He helped me up, not really caring if I was covered in my own bile, and helped me stand. The couple, ready to fight. I guess. The girl stood up, wincing, and holding her broken arm.

She then turned her wrist to us, showing a skin-colored button gruesomely embedded in her wrist, like some Frankstein put-together. She clicked it in and purple dye sped up the blue veins in her arm. I watched, disgusted. This had to be the School's doing. Or one of their associates.

The girl gave an ear-splitting scream as her skin turned a tannish – looking color. Her hair turned black and her eyes melted into a familiar chocolate-brown. A final surprise, wings bursting out of her back: deep black. Oh my God. She had turned into a he. IT had turned into Fang.

"You couldn't kill your own boyfriend," it stated, panting with the effort. The broken arm was still there though and it grimaced in pain. What a nice picture. Me: a purple ankle, purple bruise on my forehead, and vomit. Fang: blood dripping from a gunshot wound onto his clothes. The thing: Broken arm. Not a pretty sight.

"You wouldn't kill me, would you, Max?" Not-Fang pleaded, eyes smoldering. I hesitated, but not for long. This wasn't Fang. This was a THING.

"So . . . what are you?" Fang asked calmly. Weirdo.

"A shapeshifter," Not-Fang giggled. Ew. Fang can't giggle like that. Yuck.

"No," Fang said, "I mean, what do you really look like? What's your original form?"

The imposter Fang wavered. It tenatively pressed the button in its wrist again. It screamed as a green dye shot up its veins. There. That was the break I needed. I limped up and grabbed the screaming Fang by the neck, pinning it to the wall. The thing changed under my fingers.

The skin turned pale. The hair turned a soft, dark brown and grew to the thing's waist. The brown eyes turned a startling emerald green. It changed into a girl, its chest swelling and the face growing less masculine. The wings turned a dark brown. The thing blinked and opened the intense green eyes again.

"Are you going to kill me, Maximum Ride?" she asked, "Do you even know who I am? What I can do?" She smiled as I opened my mouth in response. "Allow me, Maximum Ride," she said, snapping her neck and windpipe with a sickening crack. Her head hung down and her hollow voice rang out. "You cannot kill me, Maximum Ride. The fact is, I am already dead."


	40. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

(Max's P.O.V.)

I let the girl slump to the ground, her head swinging freely. I clenched my fingers around the empty air in horror.

Oh my God.

Oh. My. God.

Jesus Christ, what had the scientists come up with?!

The girl stood and held out her hand, the one with the button, rasping sarcastically, "Pleased to meet you, I am your demise." I stumbled back, freaked out. She came toward me, hands in sharp claws. "Time to die, Maximum Ride."

It was then Fang karate-chopped her in the space between her shoulder and neck. The girl couldn't be killed, but she still could be hurt. She went down in a heap at my feet and I jumped back, forgetting the pain of my ankle for a second. What was this new monstrosity?! Fang stared at her unmercifully.

We both nodded, "Search her." I checked her jeans and shirt while Fang checked her jacket and shoes. He pulled out a passkey from a hidden compartment in the sole of the girl's shoe.

"Bingo," he said, slipping the card into his pocket.

There was something in her jeans pocket. A GPS. It had spots all over it. Target. Target. Target. All over the place. And then, a button. 'Click when objective finished to return to home base for new mission' it said. Now, where was the little pen? I searched her jeans again, only finding a hundred dollars, which I pocketed immediately. There was nothing in her top, just a couple of pills tucked into a hidden pocket in her sleeve. They were all different colors. I bet these things were what caused her to change. I took those too. Inject the things into your bloodstream and bamo! You were somebody else. I wonder if the pills had DNA of the person you wanted to change into in them. Ugh.

Around her crushed neck was a locket, a heart-shaped one. I clicked it open. There was a teeny switch inside. A tracker. I flipped the switch off with a pinkie nail and then checked her hair. She had chopsticks in them. Oh! I picked up both gingerly. One, I was sure of, was the GPS pointer. But the other. I had no idea. It looked like some kind of weapon.

Fang pulled on the jacket, which was grey, so it didn't look too bad, on his shoulders. It looked like it had lots of stuff in the many pockets. I stuffed the GPS and other stuff in one of the rare empty ones. Finally, I plucked a primary feather from the wings. Maybe someone would recognize the color. Maybe Kari knew. Maybe Kari knew.

But in the meantime, we had a mission. I took back out the GPS and clicked the 'home base' button. It zeroed in outside of some place called Eagle's Pass in Texas. How appropriate. Alright. Now, we had a destination. I bound up my foot and Fang's arm and we were off again. Off to find an impossible cure for an unknown illness. The odds were so NOT in our favor.


	41. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

(Nudge's P.O.V.)

Derrick just laid there on the bed, his mouth open and snoring. LOUDLY. We closed the door and went into the next room. I couldn't hear myself think with that racket going on. "So what are we going to do Nudge?" Gazzy asked, glancing towards the door. He was still freaked about Derrick's previous behavior. And frankly, so was I.

"I dunno Gazzy," I said tiredly. I felt like I had grown up too fast for my own good. "Let's wait until Derrick wakes up. Then maybe we can find out what happened. Angel, keep an inner eye on him."

Why had he attacked us so oddly? I know he was a messed-up person, really, but not messed-up enough to threaten Angel and little kids. He shouldn't feel so vengeful about being bossed around. I mean, everyone gets bossed around by someone. Just Derrick more than others. I think. I watched the door. The main question was: what the heck had made him collapse?

(Max's P.O.V.)

It was hard going. Extremely hard going. Let's see. We were both injured, I had gakked up all of my meal, and there was a psycho undead assassin out to kill one of us. I shivered at the memory. Her neck had snapped. Just like that. I realized I was hyperventilating again. I stopped.

Well, it turned out the Academy was pretty dang far away from where we were. All the way across the state. We kinda like, hotwired a car and drove most of the way until we ran out of gas. That thing wasn't too fast, and by the end of the day, there was a search out for it, but really, what did we care? We felt like uber crap and flying takes a lot out of you. So, the car it was.

We just kept driving, me playing driver and Fang being the fun little backseat driver. We got halfway across the state before the engine sputtered and died. Well, by that time, our fast regeneration was taking place. My ankle wasn't hurting very much, and the swelling had gone down a lot. My head was stopping its throbbing, and my stomach was -surprise- hungry.

Fang wasn't doing much better. The bullet hurt him so much that most of the bumpy car ride across the flat wasteland of Texas, he was wincing in pain. After we ditched the car, I turned to him. "We're getting that bullet out," I stated firmly. He looked at me with a face that said, 'You and what army?'

"Now," I said firmly, sitting him down on a rock in the middle of a bushy field. He glared at me, but complied, unwrapping his arm. I guess it hurt that much that he was willing to let me help. For once. That sucker. I loved him, but he was a royal prick sometimes. Like now.

"Goddammit, Max!" he hissed as I squeezed his arm, bringing up lots of lovely blood. I couldn't see the bullet! After 10 minutes of torturing Fang!

"Okay, stop spazzing out, that bullet has to go," I said calmly, looking through the girl's jacket pocket for something that could help me get the bullet out. I pulled out a knife and the GPS pointer. This was going to hurt like hell frozen over, but that bullet was gonna get out of his arm.

"Easy for you to say," he said sourly, "You don't have an amateur surgeon picking at your arm."

"I'm being as gentle as I can," I replied, pulling out the knife.

"Max," he said clearly, "What the hell do you think you'll accomplish with that?"

"Getting the bullet out," I replied, "Take off your shirt, I need to see the wound all the way."

He smirked. "You just want to see my six-pack," he teased. I felt my face turn red. I hadn't even thought of that. Until he brought it up. I watched opened-mouthed as he pulled off his shirt and threw it to the ground. Who was that panting? Oh shoot, it was me.

He smiled at me again and I turned to work, blushing furiously. I couldn't look. Couldn't look. Wanted to. WANTED TO. But couldn't. Wouldn't. Aw crap. Did. So, I'm working on the arm of an extremely hot SHIRTLESS guy. Uh, no biggy. Not at all.

I snapped the knife open and motioned at Fang to look away. I pressed the knife against the tan flesh and watched the metal bite down. A rivulet of blood ran down his arm. I heard Fang swear tensely under his breath. I pressed down harder. At the right angle, I could get the GPS pointer under the bullet through the new wound and push it up and out. Or so I'd heard from the TV.


	42. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

(Max's P.O.V.)

This wasn't working! Fang was squirming with pain under my (butcher, it felt) knife. There was a small puddle of blood growing on the ground. I felt sick to my stomach with the metallic smell in the air. Ugh. I poked the GPS pointer into the wound I had created. And yes, God, I felt horrible about it. Fang actually gave a short manly scream at this point. And kinda like, went into a faint.

I blinked back tears, not wanting to cause him any more pain, and jabbed the GPS pointer in farther. Fang whimpered in his unconsciousness. Uh, no. Uh, no. Uh – hey! I felt something hard! I got under it and pushed it up a bit, the skin of Fang's arm stretching horribly. This was not going to work. How about if I made some kind of tweezers? I searched the girl's jacket pockets again. There had to be something in here!

There was that weapon thing, but I didn't want to hurt Fang more than he already was hurting. I looked at it warily. What did it do? There was a line in the pen and I unscrewed it. There was a vial. A vial of clear liquid. I didn't want to know. I took it out and rescrewed the top back on. So, how did you activate it? There was a button on top, like the clicky button on a pen. Those thing were fun to bug people with, espieceally Fang.

I clicked down the thing tentatively and with a whooshing noise, a sharp needle shot out. It glimmered in the dwindling sunlight and I shivered. Needles. Reminded me of scientists. And experiments. And the School. It was hard not to throw it away. I pressed the button again and the needle went back in. I glanced at the vial that was in it. Looked dangerous, and probably was.

I went back to Fang, only to find him still out of it. I took the pointer and the weapon and used them like chopsticks. Trying to get my last grain of rice. Except bullets weren't edible. I seized hold of the end of the bullet and pulled. It slid out of Fang's arm with a sort of sick squelch. I knelt triumphant with the slug in my chopsticks and dropped the horrid thing to the ground.

I mopped up the blood the best I could, bandaging the tender flesh with an arm ripped from the jacket. He looked like a little kid, I thought, as I surveyed my work. With a very, very nice NOT-little-kid body. I couldn't resist. I let my fingers trace the outline of his muscles along his chest, my face burning. His eyes fluttered and he smirked.

"What are you doing, Max?" he asked sleepily, "Taking advantage of me?" He gave a huge, I'm-a-lady's-man smile. I jumped as if I had been electrocuted. "I love you anyway," he murmured, falling forward to hug me before I could get an 'I'm sorry I thought you were out cold' explanation out. I stroked his hair. He still must be half-asleep. And he was. He fell back asleep on my lap as I cradled his head.

"Everything will be all right Fang, you'll see," I said sleepily, trying not to fall asleep myself. Our mission was crucial. I had to find the cure for Iggy . . . but first . . . a little . . . nap. Zzzzzzzzzzzz . . .

With a snap, the girl uncrushed her windpipe and fixed her neck, standing up. The bones all realigned in her broken arm too, creating a series of sharp crackles. She looked satisfyingly at her healed arm. Those nerdy scientists didn't skip a beat. She let the latch on the button in her wrist click open. Three colors left. The needle was whole though. That was good. No use going through the painful process of putting in the new one.

She looked around at the battle sight. Dang. Big fight. Those losers stole her stuff too. And the important formula too! She grinned. But they didn't steal the thing she herself had kept most coveted. The thing she wasn't ordered by the scientists to keep on her person at all times, even though she did. She cut the almost invisible stitches on her calf with one of her pointed fingernails, grimacing, and pulled out the important papers. She looked through them hurriedly until she found the picture. She snorted. She couldn't believe she had been with them once. Still, she ran a tender finger down the faces. Even being dead, she still had qualities of her past life. But what life was that sort?

She folded her wings up, frowning at the gap where Max had plucked a major flight feather. No matter. It would grow back soon. 'Three colors left,' she thought, 'My aliases are running out.' She headed down the alley without looking back. In the slight breeze that wafted her hair around, you almost missed the network of damaged, sizzling circuitry running down her spine.


	43. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

(Kari's P.O.V.)

I was about to fall asleep. I was dead tired. In the small opening in the fir above me, I could see the constellations in the sky. There was Cygnus, the swan. And Orion. That manly studmuffin. I giggled insanely. Oh God, there went my brain. I looked doubtfully at Iggy as I screamed. He was still uberly disgusting and clammy. What if I just lit HIM on fire? I did not just think that.

_It would hurt Iggy! _

'But it might help the poor little dickens,' I thought hopefully/crazily.

_No, it wouldn't help! _

'Yes, it would; fire is good for everyone!' I thought cheerily.

_No it's not! _

'Who's the funny birdy I'm a-arguing with?' I sang in my head, 'Who's the birdy?'

_Oh my god. Girl, you are not in your right mind. _

'I'm in my mind,' I stated.

_Thank you, Captain Obvious._

'Captain Obvious? Who's he? Is he a manly studmuffin like my homeboy, Orion?' I asked interestedly.

_You did not just say homeboy._

'Homeboys are good for your colon,' I thought.

_Since when has anyone cared about what or what's not good for their colon?! Jeez, I'm done arguing; I'm getting off-track. Hello, nice to see me again, Kari._

'Hiya,' I thought, 'Sup? Not much here. I'm just screaming my lungs out. I'm tired. Do you have a soothing throat lozenge?'

_This is beside the matter, you crackhead._

'My head is whole thank you very much,' I thought.

_This is like Gollum; oh my god._

'Is Gollum a smexy studmuf-,' I asked.

_Um, ew! I'm not here to discuss studmuffins with you! I'm here to tell you lighting your boyfriend on fire is not going to be a good thing. _

'I don't even want to listen to you, meanie!' I thought. My throat was really getting dry.

_Meanie? Is that the best comeback you can think of? Gosh, and to think you ARE me._

'Hi me,' I answered happily.

_You really are out of it, aren't you? Whatev, just don't set Iggy on fire. It would kill him!_

'Says you,' I said angrily. For some reason, I was pissing myself off. I turned to Iggy and changed the force of my scream to him. I would show me I was right! The fire lit upon Iggy and he gave a weak sigh.

'Ha!' I thought, 'I was wrong! He is alright!'

_Oh. Oh! I forgot you kissed him. I'm not good with your events. There are too many. Anyway, that means he should be fine for now. He won't be burned or get hurt. He's just like you with the resistance thing now!_

'What do you mean?' I asked warily, giving a cough.

_I'll tell you later. Now get some rest and I'll take over while you're asleep._ Now I felt incredibly tired. As soon as I had closed my eyelids, I swore I saw the fire come together in a me and start screaming. Well, goodnight.

(Max's P.O.V.)

There was light in my eyes. Ugh. Light, light, go away, come again some other day. . .

"Max!" I heard. I blinked and Fang with the sun behind him filled my vision. He looked like a god. "Here," Fang said as he tossed me a large package of trail mix, "Eat."

I caught it and ripped it open, starving. I stopped shoveling the heavenly hamster food into my mouth and glared at him, swallowing. "How did you get that?! You nicked my card, didn't you?!" I asked.

He shrugged, grinning.

"That was in my pants pocket, you frigging perv!" I said, embarrassed and angry at the same time.

He came up close and grabbed me by the face, gently though. "I remember waking up last night, after all the pain was gone. You were being a pervert, too," he murmured, lightly touching his lips to mine.

"Well, sometimes it's fun," I said, grinning against his searching lips, too attracted to him to be embarrassed. I put down the trail mix and wrapped my arms around him enthusiastically. His touch was intoxicating. I leaned into his hard body and let myself be swept away by the feeling. Fang. My fingers ran through his thick, AMAZING, dark hair. His hair was silky, even though the past few days we had been on the run from an undead psycho. His lips tasted good. Bitter but sweet. Like dark chocolate, something I had only had once on Christmas. Mmm . . .

**Maximum!** Ow. Damn, the voice was back.

'Where've you been? On vacation?' I asked sarcastically, reluctantly pulling away from Fang. He looked at me questioningly and I mouthed 'Voice'. He nodded and settled eating my trail mix and rubbing my hand in comfort. HE knew the Voice could be an ass. It's just that the Voice didn't know that.

** Maximum, as much as I support your beginning to eventually mate with Fang, you forget about your main mission. The girl Kari is exhausted and Iggy is in a stable, but critical condition. You need to focus on what is right in front of you. You have to use your abilities to succeed in this hellish world. **

'May the force be with you also, Obi-Wan,' I replied, picking out a couple of M&Ms. Chocolate was good for stress, right? I was seriously freaking out though. How could I have forgotten Iggy?! And what was that about MATING with Fang?!

** Children grow up, Max. Eventually you will become grown up and make decisions. You are a child, Max. Children make mistakes. Children forget. It is all a part of life. Children like to forget the things that they do not want to remember. And Fang, in time, with be your mate and you will produce beautiful, winged hybrids to populate the Earth again.**

I nearly choked on my M&M. Whaaaaaaat?!?! Fang looked at me concerningly and I blushed deep red and looked away. I wasn't ready for that yet!

** I said in time, Maximum. In a couple years, I should think. . .**

I sincerely choked this time and Fang raced around to perform the Heimlich on me. I'm not hearing the Voice! La, la, la, LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! I spit out the M&M and gasped to Fang, "Time to go. To the Academy. No more screwing around."


	44. Chapter 40

Chapter 40

(Nudge's P.O.V.)

"Ow, my butt hurts," Derrick complained as he ate his cornflakes.

"Well, don't expect any of us to kiss it," I said disgustedly. I turned to the others. "Ange?" I whispered, "What's the 411?" I'd always wanted to say that!

"He's not bad," she muttered back, feeding Total bacon under the table, "But something dark is in him, and it's just . . . not him. I don't know what it is. But it's controlling him in a way. When it wants to."

I turned back to face everyone, "Okay, plan. How are we gonna get to Max and Fang? Or Kari and Iggy?"

"Kari's got it covered, I should think," Derrick said, "We should go to Max."

"Uh, heck no. What you want to do with her, I should think NOT," I replied, "But we can't split up . . . so, we vote. Who votes Max and Fang?" Everyone raised their hands, Total raised a paw.

"Well, no offense, but we have no idea how to get where they're going," Gazzy pointed out. I faltered.

"I know where they're going. The Academy," Derrick said, trying to take charge.

"Do you know where the Academy is?" I asked, enunciating every word.

"No," he admitted.

"Well, since what's what," I said, "We should scope out the edges of town. Maybe we can find out what happened and where they went so suddenly." And that was when a dozen Erasers burst through the nice, sparkling windows of the hotel's breakfast room. Crap.

(Kari's P.O.V.)

_Yo, Kari! Time to wake up! _ I blinked and looked around. _There's some water. Hurry, you need to attend to Iggy._

I looked down and lo-and-behold, there was a bottle of water. I unscrewed the top and chugged it down. Eurgh, hot water. I heard screaming and looked up, setting down the empty water bottle. Sparks floated through the air, winking out around me and Iggy. 'Thank you,' I thought gratefully, continuing screaming.

I could swear I saw a face in the fire I had created on Iggy. The mouth stretched into a grin and the eyes winked slowly, one after the other, before disappearing. I blinked three times in confusion and set to my task again. Iggy.

(Max's P.O.V.)

There was nothing here where the GPS had said the Academy was! It was a flat expanse of dirt with a couple large rocks close to us. I looked at the ground for some inspiration. Tire tracks. There were tire tracks on the ground. Set into the ground. They gathered in a circle in front of the rock and then sped back to Eagle's Pass where we had eaten again. Maybe the rock? Like in the old Scooby-Doo cartoons? No, they won't be that stupid, right? I leaned on a rock that stuck out on the big one. It opened into a cavern with a roar.

You've got to be kidding me. Maybe they are that stupid. Or maybe it's us. I looked at the almost invisible door at the end of the cavern. I opened it and looked around. I gasped, clinging to Fang's arm in amazement. There was a series of catacombs and doorways before us. We were at the Academy.


	45. Chapter 41

Chapter 41

(Nudge's P.O.V.)

No thinking. Just act. Like Max said. I rushed up, dodging screaming humans, and jumped up, kicking my feet powerfully into the chest of an Eraser. His breath left with a stinking whoosh as I heard a couple sharp cracks. It coughed and I punched its jaw up, shattering that. My knuckles were bloody, but that wasn't the thing to worry about. As the Eraser sunk to the ground, eyes already glazing over in unconsciousness, two others surrounded me. I backed up against the buffet table.

Ouch! I got burned by the food heaters. That gave me a plan. I smiled wickedly at the Erasers and grabbed two heaters, one in each hand. My hands were hot, really hot. But not as hot as the Erasers as I shoved the burners to their heads. They howled in pain and swore as the gaseous fire engulfed their faces. I laughed shortly and hopped over to where the silverware was. This 'using your environment to the best advantage' plan was working well. I stuffed my pockets full of forks and knifes, taking the big knifes used to cut meat in either hand.

I heard Derrick shout, and saw him getting his butt seriously kicked by a single Eraser. It grinned a wolfy grin as it sunk a hairy fist in Derrick's stomach. Pain in the neck or not, birdkids always stuck together. I whipped one of the knifes in my hand towards the Eraser and it stuck him in the back. Blood spewed everywhere and he fell. I looked scared at the lethal weapons in my hands and raced over to Derrick.

"You alright?" I yelled over the ruckus, slicing an Eraser in the thigh with a knife. I took the knife I had thrown out of the dead Eraser's back and handed it to Derrick. "Use it well and not against us," I said, reminding him of his little freak-out earlier. He nodded, patting me awkwardly on the shoulder as a 'thanks' and went off to slice an Eraser's chest open. I glared after him. I wasn't a little kid anymore. I was strong. Lethal. And not a mistake. I was Nudge.

(Max's P.O.V.)

The scientists that designed the Academy were actually pretty smart. The catacombs were basically like a rat maze. It was terrifying. Every wrong turn or dead end, you were faced with some deadly trap. Sometimes it was a pack of Erasers. Sometimes it was Rippers (those sharky-snaky things). Most often it was a series of deadly spikes coming from the walls. Or lasers. Or poison gas. Or guns. Or flamethrowers. Or yeah, even carnivorous plants. That last one was weird.

After what seemed like hours, Fang and I emerged sweaty and exhausted into the cool, air-conditioned interior of a white room. The smell of antiseptic and hot metal sliced through my nerves. We were truly back in hell.

"Um, what's wrong with this picture?" I asked.

"Too quiet, too easy after that minefield, and . . . where is everyone?" Fang muttered back, "Seems like a trap to me."

"Exactly," I nodded, "Keep alert. One wrong step and –." I went silent at that moment. A panel in the white wall had slid open.

Jeb. Other panels slid up and out, revealing Erasers with guns. Machine guns. Ari gave a heart-stopping snarl in our direction. There was that other Eraser that was after Kari: Jakob. She had killed them. We had seen the chunks of barbecued Erasers falling from the sky. She had to have killed them!

"'Sup Max," Ari said as he spit on my sneakers. He was carrying a gun too.

"Welcome to another branch of the system, sweetheart," Jeb said, arms wide, as if he expected me to rush into them, "We were watching you. I hope you didn't have too tough a time getting through the security."

"Toast," I managed to squeak out, before we were dragged into the belly of the operation.


	46. Chapter 42

Chapter 42

(Max's P.O.V.)

Hell was fun. Hell was probably a great place to be in. This, this was not hell. This was worse than hell. This was infinity hell.

Fang and I were basically chained to metal tables. They had bound our wings and put gloves over Fang's crackling hands. They had also put a blindfold made the same kind of material as the gloves over his eyes. We were frigging helpless. Unless one of us developed a power in the next five seconds, we were toast. Not even toast. More like that blackened, crisped square you pull out of the flaming toaster when you get distracted by the TV in the morning. That thing.

'So Voice, you there? Any enlightening ideas?' I asked.

**Do not die.**

'Well, that's good to know,' I replied, 'My Voice doesn't want me to die because it'll lose its home. Aw.'

**Maximum. If you would stop being a child and think like an adult, you would not be here.**

'How was I supposed to know that this was a huge mistake?' I snorted.

**You could have asked me for help. And now, here you are. I could have guided you through the maze without a cinch. You would not have run into all of those distractions. You would have found the hidden service door that led to the experimental lab where the cure for Iggy is. You would have been out of here by now. The scientists are going to do experiments on you, Max.**

'Big whoop,' I replied angrily, 'Just tell me how to get out of here.'

**Temper, temper Max. The solution is right in front of your face.**

'A micro-surgery laser?' I asked, 'Hardly going to help with cutting these titanium straps. I could always burn their eyes out when they get too close though . . .'

**You can use that in more ways than one. I know that your clothes and items have been taken away.**

'Yeah, leaving us with sheer, buttless hospital gowns,' I replied, trying not to look over at Fang as I said that.

**So use the laser to cut the plastic door on the chute.**

'Uh, duh,' I replied, 'But here's the problem. How do I get this miracle laser?'

**I am getting impatient with you, Maximum. This should be easy to figure out.**

'WHAT should be easy to figure out?! All you're doing is leading me around in circles!' I seethed, frustrated.

**Sometime, the scientists will come in and do a spinal tap on you, Max. They will also be taking blood and DNA samples. What should you do then? There will be no Erasers.**

I got it then. 'You could've told me earlier that there wouldn't be any Erasers,' I grumbled. It was then that the futuristic metal doors whooshed open. The scientists had come, bearing gifts of pain, misery, and needles.

(Nudge's P.O.V.)

The last Eraser crumpled in a bashed-up heap at my feet. Ha.

"Is that all of them?" I asked.

"Except for these," Angel giggled, making her Erasers bang themselves on the head with various pans. With a loud crash, the four fell to the floor. "Done."

I looked around at the havoc we had wreaked. Wow. The fancy-shmancy glass chandelier was in pieces. Food was splattered everywhere. Oh, and the floor was partly on fire.

"Time to check out," I muttered, shooting through a broken window, out to the clear, blue sky. Time to go help our family.


	47. Chapter 43

Chapter 43

(Max's P.O.V.)

"You are NOT getting near me with that thing, you Cousin Urkels!" I shrilled, "You can go do it to yourself, but NO FRICKING WAY ARE YOU DOING THAT TO ME!" I was seriously pissed. First, they had done the DNA and blood samples. Without releasing me. Then they had unbound one of my wings and plucked out two major feathers. I had swatted the ones pulling them out like flies across the room. Jerks. They hit the wall, but unfortunately suffered no injuries. But boy, would they be feeling THAT in the morning!

Fang had suffered the same treatment. His mouth was unbound, so every time one of the scientists touched him, he let loose a stream of swear words. They winced at his abrasive atmosphere, but I wasn't surprised. If he got free, they would be the first to feel his wrath.

And now those masochists were trying to do a spinal tap on me. Those sickos. It had 3 major reasons why it was so effing messed-up. Reason uno: It was a spinal tap. Uber painful and uber freaky. Reason two: That would expose my skinny white ass to the scientists. The single, desperate scientists. Ew. Those perverts just WANTED to do a spinal tap for SCIENTIFIC reasons, I'm sure. Mmm-hmm. And reason 3: Nobody is sucking crap from my spine. I'd put up with the blood and DNA tests, but the spinal tap was the last straw. I've had one before and NEVER AGAIN. And then there was a reason 4: Fang was in the room. I liked him, but not that far. I mean, what if his blindfold slipped? Awkward.

So as soon as the scientists released my legs, I kicked upward and crack! Went his jaw. He stumbled back, clutching his face. Crack! Went somebody's rib cage. Another one stumbled as I loosed my anger where his sun don't shine. I dislodged a tray of scalpels and they flew through the air towards me. Yay! OH CRAP! Most of them missed me. Except two. One of them buried itself in my thigh and I shrieked. The other pinned itself in the part of the hospital gown where there was excess material. Then in the commotion, one of them happened to slice a slit across Fang's hands. And the black energy poured out.

(Kari's P.O.V.)

I was getting tired again. Painfully tired. And it didn't help that the police showed up, thinking that there was a fire that needed containing. Then they saw Iggy underneath the flames and freaked.

"Little missy?! What in tarnation are you doing?! Trying to cremate this boy's body?!" the chief firefighter asked, alarmed. Oh great, the Southern Squad was here.

"Ma'am, you're under arrest for obstruction of justice and possibly murder," a twangy police officer said, swinging his handcuffs like a noose. Iggy could handle a few seconds without fire.

I turned to the officers (the fire going out as they watched in stunned stupidity). "Officer, you don't know s-hit!" I spat out hoarsely. I blew up the fire truck while I was at it. Boom! The humans screamed and ran around, looking for cover. Ha. Back to my task. Then I felt the cold, sharp mouth of a gun bite into the back of my neck.

(Nudge's P.O.V.)

We had been flying around the borders of town for hours now. Boring. Where were they?! Suddenly, an explosion rocked the air. There! A whole police force was surrounding a redhead. Kari! I oozed relief and dove down. She was in major trouble. With me. And the police dude holding an revolver to her head.

(Kari's P.O.V.)

"Don't move, you delinquent," Mr. Southern-accent ordered, "Or I'll shoot and this bullet will bury itself in your brain." I screamed, trying to keep Iggy warm, while also totally NOT getting my head blown off. It's a weird task. "Stop screaming," the police officer said, cringing.

"Drop the gun," I heard a sweet voice say. I relaxed. The cavalry had arrived. I heard a 'thunk' as the gun dropped to the ground.

"Let go of Kari," Angel commanded. I felt the steely grip on my shoulder go away. I nodded a 'thanks' as Angel wiped the minds of everyone in this incident. They all went on their merry way.

"Why are you setting Iggy on fire?!" Nudge screamed. I stopped her with an arm and signaled for something to write with. Derrick stepped up and gave me a crumpled sheet of hotel stationary and a pen. He must've jacked 'em. They had their backpacks too, and they looked like they were in a nasty fight. What was going on?

'Ig has cold siknes. Ded if not warm. Kepin warm. Wnt brn. Dnt no y. Ig is stabl but bad. M & F lokin 4 cur,' I scribbled, trying not to singe the paper too much, 'Wut hapend 2 u ppl?' Short, but it got the message across.

"Erasers," Nudge said casually, "But seriously, what can we do for help?"

'Wud & kndln. Bild fir RUND Ig. Wtr 2 4 me,' I wrote. They scurried off to do my bidding. Derrick came up to me and held my hand, squeezing it softly.

"You still don't remember, do you?" he asked as I shook my head no. "I can't. Too horrible," he gave a shudder, "You'll remember in time. You're doing a good job, Kari." Sometimes I hated the idiot, but this was one of the times I loved him. He was my brother. "You pyro," he said teasingly as he raced off to gather sticks. I felt the tears begin in my eyes. I sniffled and continued screaming. It was my purpose.


	48. Chapter 44

Chapter 44

(Max's P.O.V.)

When the scalpel cut the glove, I could automatically tell that Fang was MAJORLY pissed. Black energy shot out and ricocheted off of the metal walls until it touched something. A few times it was a scientist. Then they disappeared, screaming inhumanly, into a black pile of soot. I was lucky. It didn't hit me, partly because the stupid scientists had stood in front of me like a barricade.

Did they have any sense of self-preservation? Of course they did. But they also knew if they didn't protect me, Jeb would have their butts hanging from his mantle. Oh, they fought bravely. Not. They quivered and twitched anytime black shot towards them. Most of them got dissolved. The other scientists were wading around in a sea of black ash. Lovely. Anyway, one of them got smart and peeled off a metal panel from the wall. They let the energy bounce off the metal until, uh-oh, the table Fang was on got dissolved. He automatically ripped off the gloves and the blindfold, the straps falling loosely around him, and looked around with bloodlust in his eyes.

He raced towards me and the cowering scientists. "Are you still living in your basement?" he asked laughing, snapping one's neck. "How about you? You go shopping at Walmart for that fake hair?" he said as he smashed another scientist into the wall with a sharp kick, blood pouring out from a head wound. He laughed insanely as he let his power do the work and disinigrated the humans. I gave a cough as he was about to punch a hole through the last, quivering scientist's guts.

He turned, smiling sheepishly at me as he punched the scientist's lights out. "What?" he asked innocently.

I gave a sigh, "Fang, we need to get you into some anger management classes."

He walked over to me, smoothing back my hair as he leaned in, kissing me, "Max, shut up."

"You psycho," I breathed back.

"I thought you were in trouble. It sounded like you were getting raped or something by the scientists," he said, kissing my jaw.

"Freak. Don't jump to pervy conclusions. Untie me," I said, "Time to get back on track." He did so and I grabbed the laser from the wall, hissing as I realized I still had the scalpel stuck in me. I pulled it out, blood flowly freely, and felt the hair on the back of my neck rise. I slowly turned. Fang!

"You perv!" I yelled, swinging a chair at his head, "For once would you stop thinking like that!? We have a mission to do!" He dodged it and grinned as I grabbed a whitecoat's, well, white coat, and put it on. As he moved to do the same, I asked.

'Okay Voice, now what? We're free," I asked impatiently.

**Use the laser to get out.**

'I knew that! I mean, how do we get the cure?" I replied.

**Go out the door to the stairs. Go to the fourth landing. Second door on your left is the experimental disease lab. Hurry. There have been cameras watching you the entire time. They'll be here within the next 3 minutes. Can you block the entrances behind you?**

I pushed Fang out the door and opened the electricity panel, ripping out a fistful of wires. Bzzt. I held up the cords in blackened fingers, triumphant as the door whooshed shut behind us and the light above it turned red.

"Let's go," I said, already sprinting to the stairwell. Our luck was back.


	49. Chapter 45

Chapter 45

(Max's P.O.V.)

We were out of there, lickety-split. Up the stairs, trampling through the doors like a herd of elephants. And when I skidded to a stop in front of the experimental disease lab, it was all I could do not to punch the wall. Instead, I let a stream of cuss words pour out of my mouth.

Well, because, the lab was locked. And we needed a passkey. Which was probably in our clothes. Which we didn't have. Crap. Then there was the stampede of Erasers, baying for our blood, charging up the stairwell. Double crap. Oh, and let's not forget the spawn of Satan. He was standing right in front of us. Triple crap.

"Hello Max," he said calmly, "I'm going to guess you need access to the lab."

I let go a suggestion that let him do something completely and anatomically impossible for him to do.

He looked a tad taken aback (as did Fang) but handed over our clothes looking calm as if I didn't just insult him. Maybe a bit sad around the eyes, but calm. Anyway, where the hell did he get them? No clue. But I whipped out the passkey out of one of the jacket pockets and jammed it in the sensor. Fang was blocking the door with furniture. Don't ask me why the most hated workplace in the world has secretaries, because I sincerely have no idea.

The sensor turned green and the door swung back. Fang came over to my side and looked at Jeb in the same defiant way I was.

"I don't know if I should say thanks to a gutless, vile THING like you, but see ya," I snarled, letting the door whoosh shut behind me.

Jeb knocked one more time, his voice muffled, "It's the fifth one on the third shelf in the second cabinet, sweetheart. Do your best, Maximum Ride." I heard him shuffle off down the corridor. I blinked rapidly but turned to the control panel, head spinning. Why would he want to help me? He didn't even care about the rest of the Flock much, only me and 'saving the world'. What HAD this world come to? Fang laid his hand over mine and I jumped, the warmth startling.

"Just act, right Max?" he whispered in my ear as he yanked out the wires. The light turned red. He pulled me away from the door and began to block this one too, with chairs and tables. I glanced around to survey the room. There were gruesome pictures on the walls of some of the diseases they were creating. One had the eyes of the test subject completely gone. The next slide of the same disease had the nose gone, a blank hole. Then the ears. Then the mouth. And then the skull was completely gone. Face-eater disease? Oh no, it had to be scientific. Facial Deterioration Disease. FDD. The actual result took little less than a month. Creeeeeepy.

Another picture had the body fine. Then wrinkled. Then completely shriveled up into a dry husk. Desert Dryness Disease. DDD. Took a week.

*Dehydration Syndrome (DS): where you thought you were thirsty and would keep drinking liquids until you practically drowned.

*Botany Disease (BD): where it looked a bit like chicken pox until plants grew from beneath your skin, feeding off of your nutrients and water until you died.

*Skeletal Growth Sickness (SGS): where your skeletal structure grew until it was literally bursting out of your skin.

*Respiratory Clog Syndrome (RCS): Where a skin of thick mucus slowly grew in your throat and lungs, cutting off your air supply and killing you.

*Skin-Liquidification Disease (SLD): when the skin melted off of your bones.

*Genetically-Enhanced Black Plague (GEBP): need I say more?

Some looked like they were meant to be jokes, like:

*Rhyme Syndrome (RS)

*Nail-Growth Disease (NGD)

*Cross-Eye Disease (CED)

*Bladder Sickness (BS)

I mean, what the hell? Did the scientists get bored of creating deadly diseases? Ha. I heard a crash as I was studying two different diseases: Chicken-Hypnosis Syndrome (CHS) and No-Nerve Disease (NND) when I heard a crash. The Erasers had broken through the first barricade down the hall.


	50. Chapter 46

Chapter 46

(Max's P.O.V.)

I heard the horribly-put-together wolf experiments swarm down the hall. A heart-stopping crash showed the blockade on the lab door Fang had created holding. Speaking of, he walked up next to me, grimacing at a disease that turned you inside out.

"Did you get it?" he asked, eyes and body tense. I shook my head.

"Now I'm gonna," I said, walking over to the wall of cabinets marked 'cures'. Second cabinet? Check. Third shelf? Check. Fifth tube? S-hit. Where was it?

"Looking for this?" the undead girl said, perched on a cabinet, cure in hand.

(Kari's P.O.V.)

"I'm proud of you, Derrick," I croaked hoarsely, gulping down the water and granola bars they brought. They had built a fire around Iggy so I could rest. I had slept for a couple hours and rested. "I never thought you could be so heroic and help with a fight for once," I said diplomatically, "Good job."

He puffed out his chest. It was rare I commented him. "Thanks," he replied, "So when are Max and Fang getting back?"

"You just want Max here so you can get in her pants," Nudge said scornfully, "We're watching you now more than ever, you frigging psycho perv."

I looked at Nudge, "Oh, so what'd he do now? Try a bad pick-up line on you, compliment your hairstyle, and try to look down your shirt? He does that to every girl until they smack him."

"Can't help it," Derrick grunted, shrugging, "But I didn't do ANYTHING to her."

Nudge gave a small blush and spat out with much more venom than I had thought possible, "No, he just attacked Angel for no freaking reason and then wants to get Max to sleep with him!"

I glared at him, roaring, "DERRICK!"

He winced and hurriedly gave his explanation for his stupid behavior, "I like Max. Okay? And I'll get her eventually. And I don't know why I freaked out. It was like one second, I was being insulted by a mouthy midget, and the other I had no control of my body."

"Midget?!" Nudge replied, "I can still fly AND fight better than you, jerk!" She stomped off to where Angel and Gazzy were sleeping and sat next to them, grumbling.

"You're going to get shot," I told him, "In the next few days." He sniffed, uncaring. "Seriously Derrick, why did you attack Angel? She's really sweet. And lest I say it again, Max has Fang, and if you're trying to take her, Fang'll blow your head off. Really."

"I don't know why I attacked her, I swear, Kari! I don't know what happened to me!" Derrick said, being truthful, "And I'm willing to get my head blown off for Max. She's perfect for me." I sighed. I'd never get the message through his thick skull.

"It's your funeral," I finally replied, "'Night, Derrick." He nodded a 'goodnight' and rolled over to his side in the dirt. I crawled over to Iggy and cleared away the fire around him. The burning didn't hurt. I barely felt it in the chill of the night.

"Wake up soon please," I whispered to Iggy, kissing his cold, still lips, "Be okay. Just, please." I began screaming away. Max and Fang had to be coming by now. This was the second night. No, maybe it was the third. Oh crap.

'The third night?' I asked, afraid.

_No, not yet. That would be dangerous. I'm going to show you later. The memory could be crucial to you, but it might kill you and Iggy. How about in a week or two?_

'That's not fair,' I argued, 'You promised.'

_Trust me, Kari. You don't want to know, but your past is something that can't be forgotten. Really._

'I want to know,' I replied, 'Everyone has been keeping some huge secret from me. Can you at least give me a hint?'

_If I must. Kari, you're a murderer._

'Yeah, probably. I've killed all of those scientists and Erasers,' I mused.

_You still don't understand. But soon you will. Goodbye for now, Kari._

'Wha? Wait!' I asked, but my soul didn't reply, 'Well, come visit soon.' I heard a chuckle in my ears and let it be.


	51. Chapter 47

Chapter 47

(Max's P.O.V.)

"Holy (insert swear word here)! Where did you come from?!" I asked, freaked.

She pointed to an air duct in the wall uninterestingly, "I propose a trade."

"Why should we trade with you?" Fang asked flatly, as if every day some rogue, undead mutant came upon us asking for a switch.

"You need this," she stated, shaking the tube, "I want the injector."

"T-the what?" Fang asked, thrown off balance. I riffled through the jacket pockets, pulling out the bloody needle-pen and threw it to her.

"Sorry, it's ruined," I snorted. She tossed us the tube, filled with blue liquid. Fang grabbed a couple of sterile (capped!) needles from a box and we were set.

The girl unscrewed the thing on the pen and found the contents gone. "Where are the nanobytes?!" she shrieked. I lifted an eyebrow and held up the tube with the clear liquid.

"You mean this?" I asked innocently, "Nanobytes? What for?" She gave a hurried glance towards the door, which was beginning to get a huge crack in it.

"No, no. Not now," she said, spazzing. I realized she sounded a bit foreign. Why hadn't I noticed that before?

"Now," Fang stated, "Or we destroy the bytes."

"Are you not authorized to be in here?" I asked sweetly, "Because we aren't either. But we could go back to the surgery, just to see the look on your face." She gave me a nasty face and the bird, but ushered us into the air vent.

"Remember, one wrong move and snap! Goes your bytes," I reminded her. She looked at me scared and pushed us along. Fang stayed behind at the last possible minute to be safe and grabbed a whole bunch of test tubes. We still didn't have everything figured out. Goddammit, this was frustrating!

We crawled through the tiny vents (very dangerous; kids, don't try this at home) until we got to the other side of the complex.

"You owe us an explanation," I said.

"I do not owe YOU anything," she replied.

I mimicked flattening the tube, "Talk. Explanation for bytes."

She sat down, defeated, "You have my word not to attack you until you give me the bytes. Then it is war." She gave a long-suffering sigh, and tucked her long, dark-brown hair behind her ear. "I am ready."


	52. Chapter 48

Chapter 48

(Max's P.O.V.)

"For a while, I was dead. I do not remember any of my past life. Not much of it anyways. Then, the scientists brought me back to life. I was so happy! You cannot understand that the joy I felt was so painful, something I had not felt for ages. I thanked the scientists over and over again. But they were strict, I could not stay alive unless they wished me to. So as you must imagine, I was willing to do anything the scientists said," she spoke, softly, "I do not know why I am even telling you this."

I gestured for her to go on. This was a milestone in the freakish world we lived in.

She nodded, "A long time went by. All they did was do tests on me. They gave me new bodies, new voices. I am certain they stole the personalities from people and then killed them. It is painful, but it helps me with my missions. I am a trained assassin of the Academy, but I am utterly repulsed by the thought of this place. I have killed many without remorse. But now I am ordered to get a girl named Kari. 'Who is Kari?' I ask. They reply that she is needed for examination, possibly repair, and possibly termination. I do not care, but when I see her picture, something hurts."

"There is also a warrant out for your death and/or capture, Maximum Ride. So I have been tracking you these last few months, watching you triumph and watching you fall. Then Kari meets up with you. What perfect timing. It was hard to catch up with you, and also not to run away from you, but eventually I found you in that mall. I was that girl with the ribbons in her hair. I was ordered to give the pill to Iggy at the most opportune moment, and there it was, staring me in the face," she said, watching the nanobyte tube as I idly rolled it around in my fingers.

"I gave the pill to Iggy. I am so sorry for that. I did not realize what the sicknesses could do to a person. I went back here, to get my next mission. They told me you were coming to find a cure. I went to administer the nanobytes to Kari because that was all the scientists needed anymore. I do not know why she needs the bytes. Something in her is broken, that is all I overheard. So when I ran into you, I knew I could get two jobs done at once. But you beat me. You, a human-avian, could beat me. And you stole my things," she explained, holding up a hand against my protest, "I know it is your way. Once, it was mine too. So I tracked you here to get back the nanobytes, going another way, and here we are now. I need those to stay alive. Give me the bytes, Maximum Ride."

"Wait," I replied, "Are these bytes going to help or hurt Kari?"

"In the scientist's case, it would help them. In Kari's, it would only hurt," she said.

"Do you care about Kari?" Fang asked, "Because it sounded like you did."

"I feel . . . love for her, like the friend type of love; I miss her. But there is a vengeance that is eating me inside. Why do I feel this way? I have never felt this way before. My emotions are coming back, after so long. What happened when you fought me?!" she cried, swiping at the tube, missing every time.

"One last question," I said, the hair on the back of my neck rising. And it wasn't Fang. It was the weeping girl in front of me. She was spilling her guts out, but was as dangerous as a tiger. And why did she love/hate Kari? W-why was there sizzling circuitry on the back of her neck?! "What's your name?"

She gave a hiccup, "I do not remember. I do not have a name."

"So heartfelt," Ari applauded as he opened the door, "Too bad all of you will die now. Any last words?"

Jakob stepped out from behind him, "Hello again. Since when have you become the sniveling type, Robyn?" And then he gave the wickedest smile I had ever seen.


	53. Chapter 49

Chapter 49

(Max's P.O.V.)

Robyn gave a whimper and fell to the floor in what seemed like a bow. Robyn. Where had I heard that name before?

"Do you need to be taught another lesson, Robyn?" Jakob asked casually, "Because I could teach it to you VERY, VERY soon." Robyn gave a tear-choked sob and shook her head 'no'. My face hardened. What had he done to her?!

"Max, you should be taught a lesson too," Ari grinned, canines clicking together, "It would teach you a lot."

Oh my God. I got it.

I concentrated on not massacring Jakob and Ari, breathing deeply. How dare Jakob do that to her! And then Ari have the cheek to suggest it to me! Fang squared it for me. He held up a bottle marked 'Highly fatal. Contagious through respiratory system. DO NOT OPEN.'

"I'll drop it," he threatened, "Don't think I won't." Ari and Jakob froze in their tracks.

I pulled up Robyn by the elbow, "You promised not to kill us until we gave you the nanobytes. Still keeping that promise?"

"On my . . . my honor," she stuttered, tears streaking down her face.

Jakob gave a barking laugh, "What honor?" Robyn looked down at her sneakers with her face crumpling.

"You know what, shut up, you f****** jerk! I don't need to listen to your s***** comments about her! She's bad too, but I respect her more than I respect you, b******!" I screeched. I'm not going to bother omitting swear words for your benefit now, because this guy was REALLY pissing me off. "It's your f****** fault she's like this! Afraid of you! So go dig a ditch and die in it, you d***h***!"

Everyone stared at me until Fang recovered his wits and hurled the fatal test tube towards the two Erasers. Robyn, Fang, and I held our hands over our mouths and noses as the glass exploded, sending the deadly substance into the air.

I immediately cut through the plastic medical waste chute door with the laser, and shoved Robyn through. Fang was next. They sped down the chute as I hopped in. I hoped this wouldn't go bad.

As the edge of the metal chute cut off my vision, I saw Ari and Jakob fall to the ground, their lungs bleeding from the inside. My hand was still over my mouth.

Okay, you remember the claustrophobia thing? This was bad. It was dark. And small. And I didn't know what the end had. Over and over, down slides, over bumps, around in circles. There was finally a light at the end. I could see used needle tips and gauze, along with other unmentionables, in a dumpster bin. Right where I was going to land.

I snapped open my wings at the right time, and soared out over the field of needles, toes barely clearing the waste dump. Fang and Robyn were hovering over the desert outside the complex.

"Robyn," I said, crushing the tube of nanobytes, "I want you to get out of here. Get far away."

She twitched, "But, but they will track me. I have nowhere to go!"

"We turned the tracker in your locket off," I explained as she looked down, to see if, indeed, her locket was gone, "And there are plenty of places to go." I turned to swoop away but she laid a hand on my shoulder. I flinched as I expected a knife point to enter my ribs, or a kick to my head.

"Wait," she said, "Please take this one to Kari. To remind her. And tell her, oh, I remember now, that it was not her fault." She ripped off a single picture from a photo-booth roll and placed it gently in my hand, curling my fingers over it. "Please," she pleaded, "Tell her, I'm sorry. For Iggy. And I only wish I could be with her. But I am bad for everyone. I am already dead, so my feelings do not matter. No matter how much my heart wants to go with you, I swear, you'll never see me again, because I will kill myself with the injector when you are gone." She swooped off gracefully over the desert, heading west. I put the picture in my pocket. It wasn't mine to look at.

"Nice, morbid kind of girl," Fang commented, "Time to go?"

"Home, Jeeves," I said, following him as we went to, well, home.


	54. Chapter 50

Chapter 50

(A/N: OMFG! I never thought I'd get here! Thank you so much for the love and support of my readers, even though at times you've threatened to hurt me, and enjoy the reunion!)

(Robyn's P.O.V.)

I watched Maximum Ride fly into the sky until she was a tiny speck in the sky. It took all of my willpower not to go after her to see Kari and Derrick. The last, REAL, surviving members of Kari's Flock. I did not matter. My life had been lived. By someone who was not me, and me at the same time. This body, this was not mine. This hair was not mine either. Nor anything but these thoughts and the pictures.

I gazed at the tiny roll of pictures tucked in my hand, and took out the injector, placing it against the circuitry in my neck. After a few seconds, I took it down. I was always a selfish person. So I would follow them, but at a distance. Until I could sacrifice myself for a good cause. Someday, I would help Kari. Someday, I would be someone good again.

(Max's P.O.V.)

"So, what happened to her? Why was she so freaked about that Jakob dude?" Fang asked naively. I gave him a dirty look.

"Are you serious?" I asked, "You must be an idiot." He gave me the bird and I tackled him.

"Think about it," I gasped, worn out entirely from the day, "Jakob is a guy. Robyn is a girl. Robyn is afraid of Jakob. Partly from something that has nothing to do with what I'm trying to explain. Why else would she be afraid of him unless he DID something to her?"

Fang blinked in astonishment, "You, you mean he ra-."

"Yeah," I said, cutting him off. I didn't want to hear that word uttered, "Where are we?"

"Middle of the land of ten-gallon hats and horrible Southern accents; middle of the land of steak and the Alamo; middle of the land of bad teeth and guns . . ." he said, ticking them off on his fingers.

"So we're almost there then?" I asked, grabbing for his hand.

"You betcha, little missy," he said, imitating a bad Texan accent. I smiled.

(Kari's P.O.V.)

I had stayed up half the night, keeping Iggy warm again. Where were Max and Fang? It was already around noon.

"Max's here!" Angel shouted, running past me. Well, speak of the devils. They were finally here. They landed, hand in hand, wearing nothing but identical white coats and hospital gowns. Thank God. I would've come up to greet them, but my job was here.

They immediately rushed up to Iggy, pulling out a needle (eek!) and a tube full of blue liquid. They carefully poured the liquid into the needle and found a vein on his neck. Max poked the needle into Iggy's cold neck and pressed down on the plunger, draining the tube.

I had my fingers crossed. Please Iggy. Please. Iggy's hand twitched and I automatically grabbed it, holding it to my face. Warm. It was warm. And it wasn't really any of a surprise when all of us girls burst out crying in relief when he opened his eyes, yawning and said, "Morning? Ugh, 5 more minutes."


	55. Chapter 51 Part 1

Chapter 51, Part 1

I hugged the idiot to my chest, squealing and screaming at the same time, "Iggy!!" Max was ruffling his hair as tears seeped out her eyes. She clung to Fang's chest happily. Derrick stood off to the side for a while, but sat by me, touching my arm in a small, subtle comfort to show that he was happy for me. And the little kids and Total (I had completely forgotten about that black puffball!) all, excuse the pun, dog-piled on top of me.

Iggy choked out through the stranglehold I had on him, "Kari . . .! I'm being suffocated by your cleavage!" I let go and he shook his head. "Not that I don't mind," he said cheekily, grinning at me. But no, this time I didn't hit him, this time I clung to him, still crying, stroking his head with one hand. He wrapped his arms around me and laid his cheek on my head. "I like holding you Kari," he said comfortingly, "But why's everyone crying? Did Total die?"

"Hey!" said the dog, "Shut up! You've been out, sorry, COLD for 3 days now and you're thinking it's me?!" He chuckled as only a dog could and let Angel hug him.

Iggy pushed away from my firm grip on him (it was amazing he did it with my death hold on him) and looked me in the eyes, "Hold up. I've been out for the count for 3 DAYS?!" Time to do the explaining.

"Ig, do you remember when you realized you were allergic to gum?" Max stuttered, still weepy, "And the Sound of Music girl gave you a pill?"

"Yeeeeeeees," Iggy drew out impatiently.

"It kinda like put you in a coma from the cold sickness in the pill," Nudge explained, "And Max and Fang went to go get the cure! And Kari kept you warm by screaming for 3 whole days! Man, she must love you a lot! She didn't get much sleep! But anyway, here you are awake finally!" Wow. The entire time she was holding her speech back, and out it came. "You could've died but you didn't and I'm so happy, I mean what would happen if you died? There would be no one to build bombs with Gazzy or kick butt with Fang or bother Max or love Kari!"

Blah. Blahblahblahblahblah. Blahblahblahblah! Blah. BLAH! Is basically all I could hear. Yeesh.

Max poked me in the shoulder, "Tonight. We need to talk. There's something you need to know." I watched her warily. What was so important? How did it concern me? What happened on their way to get the cure?


	56. Chapter 51 Part 2

Chapter 51, Part 2

I watched the stars in the sky with an interested look on my face. There was Orion. Did I really say he was a studmuffin?

_Yup. _

'Welcome back to my head, anything you'd like to say?' I asked snidely.

_Shut up. _

'Fine, jerk,' I replied.

_You're basically calling yourself a jerk._

'Maybe I am a jerk. I mean, I haven't told anyone. Not even Derrick. Not Iggy or the Flock. I'm dangerous. At any time or any day I could hurt someone,' I sighed, 'And, I have a question.'

_What?_

'Why didn't I have any flashbacks? Any memories?' I asked, 'You know, when I used my power?'

_Because I've slowly been feeding them into your subconscious, even when you're awake. I'll ask you a question. What was Aero's favorite color?_

'Green,' I responded automatically, 'And remember that one time we got free and spent a whole month out of those rooms?'

_I remember. But we still had it better than Max. When we were sleeping in those horrid rooms on the floor with nothing to do but scratch pictures in the paint during the night, Max and her Flock were shoved into dog crates and beaten more often by Erasers than we were. We had those single seven rooms to ourselves, our doors unlocked in the mornings so we could go out and eat and do our nesscessities in the main two rooms. _

'Yeah. And how Phantom phased us out through the walls and the scientists had a field day, but then Aero's power developed and the floor disappeared beneath their feet, and they fell in, only to have the floor come back in? That was funny. They had to use a chainsaw through the floorboards to get the dozen scientists out,' I laughed, 'Whatever happened to my Flock?'

_Trust me, Kari. You're going to be happy that I didn't tell you now. If you insist though, I'll tell you in two days. Two days should be enough time to not freak out. But seriously, I think I should tell you the most important part now. Kari. Dear, your Flock is dead._


	57. Chapter 52

Chapter 52

I felt my throat close up and I choked. Hazily I thought, 'Dead? They're all dead? Dead? Dead?!'

_Kari, chill! Max and Fang are coming!_

I gulped, trying to get some spit back in my mouth and composed myself. In, out. Breath, breath. Steady. I blinked a couple of times to clear my watering eyes and saw Max and Fang coming down the path to the rock where I was sitting. Iggy followed close behind.

"Kari, there's something we need to tell you,' Max said, sitting down next to me and looking me in the eyes. Fang and Iggy also sat down, Iggy grabbing my hand gently.

"Um, well, when we went to the Academy, we kinda, like, ran into someone," she explained, stuttering. This was not going to be easy.

"She seemed to know you," Max said, "Kari, who's Robyn?"

I gave a shocked cough, trying to gasp in air through my shrinking lungs. She . . . she's dead! Right?!

_Kari, she is dead. Listen to Max, she'll tell you._

"She was once part of my Flock," I replied, breathing short and shallow, "Where is she? What happened when you were away?"

"She's a trained assassin of the Academy," Max said, "She was dead?" I nodded, swallowing every word that came out her mouth. "Well, we sort of ran into her. She's alive, if you can call it that. More like a robotic zombie. She's got this circuitry in her neck that keeps her alive. We damaged it."

"She's not the same. She can change shape, although it seems painful, through pills that we think contain DNA of the person. She was after you, but when we damaged the stuff in her neck, her emotions and feelings came back. She's mad at you, but like, misses you. What's wrong, Kari?" she asked, alarmed, as I gripped Iggy's hand.

"Brings back memories," I gasped, "Go on."

"She had a mission to inject nanobytes into you. What for?" Max questioned.

"No idea," I said, puzzled. Huh? Why do I need nanobytes floating around in me?

"Us either. And Jakob well, did something to Robyn," Max explained bitterly, her face hardening, "I hope you can guess, because I'm not going to say it." Jakob? He was a psycho. A perverted psycho. A psycho who? Oh God. I knew what it was before my brain registered it. I clenched my fist until my fingernails bit into my skin and the blood began to drip down. That b******. He would die. Count on it.

But I can't believe it! He had always joked (really threatened) us girls about it, even Falon. I knew he was twisted, but he just took it to a whole 'nother level. If I saw him again, I would kill him. Even if I knew him when he was a baby, he would die. A horrible death.

Max took in a hissing breath and took out a flat square from her pocket. "Calm, Kari. Calm. Robyn is fine. Well, she told us she'd kill herself when we were gone."

I sniffed in anger and sadness. Why would she kill herself?!

"We don't think she killed herself though. She didn't seem the type," Max said, "But she wanted you to have this." She held out the paper, which was really photo manila, to me. I took it, looking at the picture before bursting into tears.

It was my Flock.


	58. Chapter 53

Chapter 53

The picture was the time when we had escaped. One day, under everyone's urging, we had gone to the mall. Falon had pulled us into a photo booth. Everyone. We had all been crammed in that teensy booth, everyone laughing at how ridiculous it was, even Phantom.

I felt the tears drip down my face and tried not to get water on the picture. The beautiful, precious picture. I held it close to my heart, like some Kodak moment, still crying. Someone whip out a camera, there's a photo-op here. Ha. I tucked the picture in my pocket and raked the back of my hand over my eyes.

I gulped in a huge breath of air and looked back at everyone's eyes. "I'm fine guys," I said in my most reassuring voice. That cry session hadn't lasted more than 3 minutes but you could still hear the masked trembling when I spoke. I really did feel like curling up in a ball and sobbing my guts out, but now was not the time.

"Max," I said steadily, "Do you have any theories about the nanobytes?"

"Unless Robyn wanted to inject them to slowly pick apart your brain until you were a burbling idiot, I don't think so," Max said calmly while I made an 'ew' face.

"So, onto not-so-depressing matters," I muttered.

"What news of ours isn't depressing?" Fang replied. I sighed.

"Anyone got a deck of cards?" I asked. They all nodded 'no'. "I know so many card games!" I complained.

"Who says we have to play a game?" asked Fang.

"Sure, you and Max might . . .," Iggy stated nonchalantly. Fang grabbed his head and gave him a noogie.

"You idiot!" Max said, blushing. I'm sure she was imagining all of those little games she could play with Fang.

"What's the matter Fangy-kins? Am I insulting you and your sugar-pookie? Or haven't you already played those kind of games before? Naughty boy," Iggy grunted. This time Fang threw him bodily about a couple yards and snorted, blushing crimson in the moonlight as was his 'sugar-pookie'. They rushed off down the trail muttering something about the watch.

I tripped up to where Iggy was doing a face-plant in some pine needles. Ouch. "You really shouldn't have provoked them," I said, pulling him up and brushing out his hair, "And if you ever call me a name like one of those, I will not hesitate to chop out your tongue."

"Aw, but you like that tongue, don't you?" Iggy said, kissing me suddenly and letting said-tongue work some magic with mine. I gave a content sigh and leaned into his chest after that.

"What am I going to do with you?" I asked.

"Anything you want," Iggy said cheerfully as I elbowed him in the stomach.

"Can you stop with the perv-ness for once?!" I asked, imagining a little throbbing temple mark appear on my head like in the animes.

"Tomorrow's my birthday," Iggy said unexpectedly. Really?! I gave an inward grin. Perfect! I could launch my plan into action! Iggy would never know what hit him.

"Kari?" he asked as I started smiling, "Um, what's with the smile like you just killed someone and got away with it?"

My smile faded and I gave an awkward cough, "Oh, nothing. C'mon, let's get some sleep."


	59. Chapter 54

Chapter 54

I got up early for once. It was a miracle. I gently shook Max awake and 'persuaded' her to give me the credit card. By persuading, I meant threatening to wake up Fang from a deep sleep. Man, when he was out, he was out. And majorly pissed if you woke him.

It took me over an hour to find a decent-sized town to buy stuff in. I walked into a Walmart and went straight for the food. Oh doughnuts. Tempting. Oh so tempting. Resist. Resist the sugary goodness. I turned away clutching my arms to my sides. Just one . . .

There they were. In a freezer-thing. I took out a BIG one. Yeah, I bet that sounds utterly weird if you don't know what I was talking about. Okay, calm down, I was just picking out a birthday cake. For Iggy. For his birthday. Yeah.

"How much does it cost to put words on the cake?" I asked the bored-looking guy behind the counter.

"Fifty cents per word," he said, flipping through a magazine.

"Can you put 'Happy Birthday Iggy' in it?" I asked. He gave a nod and went to go get the tube of icing. While he was doing his thing, I wandered. And found something. Not like I'm going to tell you. Wait for it. Jeez.

I walked out of the store with my two purchases and (somehow) flew back to the camp, hiding one where I knew it wouldn't be found, and brought the other to camp. They were still asleep, except Max. She saw me carrying the cake and ran over to help. "Oh my god Kari!" she said in a reprimanding/cheerful voice, "Lemme help."

I happily handed the heavy cake to her, which she put on a big rock, shaking out a box of matches from her sleeve and lighting the candles. I poked everyone except Iggy awake (and boy it was a hard time getting Nudge up) and stood back. I pulled Iggy off the ground and poked him awake. If he could see, it would perfect. The Flock was standing behind the cake, Max and Fang holding it. Even as Gazzy was looking hungrily at the cake and Nudge was shrieking 'Happy Birthday' at the top of her lungs, it was still great. I led Iggy over to the cake.

He sniffed, "What in the heck is burning? Did you guys set my butt on fire or something?"

"Happy birthday Iggy," I said, "Blow out the candles, they're right in front of you. Oh! But make a wish first!"

"This is really unorthodox," Iggy grumbled. He paused for a moment and then blew out the candles. Wonder what he wished for.

"Cake! For breakfast! Woo-hoo!" Nudge said, taking a huge chunk of cake in her hands and eating it. She looked up with icing on her lip, "Oh, and happy birthday Iggy!" She quickly started eating again. I forgot to buy plates. Ah, well. Gazzy and Angel took chunks out too, licking their fingers for crumbs. All the little ones looked at our chunks hungrily. I forfeited half of mine. I didn't want to be sick of cake by the end of the day.

"So Iggy," I asked conversationally, "Do you like vanilla or chocolate better?"

"Vanilla, but chocolate's good too," he said as he ran a finger over the piece of chocolate cake in his hand, "Why?"

"Because there's a lot I don't know about you," I said sheepishly.

"How much do you need to know?" Iggy asked, "Please don't tell me that this is gonna be the Spanish Inquisition."

"Forget it," I said. Guilt flowed through my veins. Was I really that curious? Should I be? Should I just be aloof? What if I was doing everything wrong?! For the first time in a long time I felt afraid. What if I was being a horrible girlfriend? What if I was inconsiderate to Iggy? How could I have thought I was all right just babbling on about certain things that made Iggy uncomfortable? What if –

"I was kidding Kari," Iggy said, "It's fine. Fire away. Just not all at once."

I held my head. "I need to be alone. I'll see you later, 'kay?" I said, running and spreading my wings open.

"Kari!" I heard Iggy's exasperated yell as I jumped into the air, "Whatever I did wrong, I'm sorry!" I gave a breathless laugh. He's sorry for what he had done?! Really, what had I done?

I settled down in a bunch of scrub. Why is Texas so flat?! God could've lifted a finger and made some mountains. Or something. But anyway, time to come clean with myself. And my soul.

'Hello again. You have some explaining to do.'

_About what? All you've been worrying about is if Iggy thinks you're a bad girlfriend or not. That's really no concern of your soul. Cough cough._

I frowned, 'Well, you do have to explain why Iggy doesn't turn into firewood. You said you would eventually. So start explaining.'

_You kissed him._

'Uh, yeah. So what?'

_Well, you transferred it to him._

'Transferred what? Mono?'

_If I could sigh, I would. How stupid are you? You gave Iggy your resistance to fire by kissing. You probably gave him a nice wet one, didn't you?_

'I'm tempted to blush,' I thought, 'Get on with it.'

_Your resistance to fire can be duplicated through your saliva. Once your saliva gets into someone else's system, they get the same resistance as you. Get it now?_

'Yay, so the world crisis is solved! Now all I have to do is French every person on the globe and we're golden!' I replied sarcastically, 'Lovely thing to know.'

_I don't know why you're spazzing about every little thing Kari. Is the next thing to freak out about the meaning of life?_

I snorted.

_It's 42. _

'And my Flock is alive,' I replied, 'Sure.'

_Did you not have enough to eat? You're sure grumpy today._

'There's just too much to deal with right now,' I said, massaging my temples, 'Between my LITTLE secret I've yet to tell anyone in my entire life, my relationship with Iggy, trying to figure out how my Flock died, worrying about what happened to undead Robyn, wondering what the hell I need nanobytes in me for, trying to keep Derrick away from Max, attempting not to spill the fact to the little kids that Max and Fang are together (which I find is pointless, seeing how they'll know soon enough) and basically surviving, my planner is FULL.'

_You'll know everything soon enough. In time, Kari._

'Oh B.S.' I replied, 'I haven't got the time. For all I know, not being the average American teenager, I could be dead by tomorrow morning. And my soul, which shouldn't even be existing or frankly CONVERSING with me, is telling me to be patient. Nice try. But I don't have the time for anything.' Silence. 'Am I ranting to myself?'

_Iggy's waiting for you. Maybe you should head back. I'm sure you're a fine match for him, Kari._

'But I can't unleash my surprise until tonight! What's the point of leaving to go explain myself?' I responded.

_Just play 20 questions or something._

I landed in the middle of the gabbling Flock. They all stared at me for a second and then went back to talking. Iggy walked up behind me. "Feeling better?" he asked quietly. I gave him a light punch on the chest.

"I'll take that as a yes," he said, nuzzling my neck. I sighed and suddenly looked around. All eyes on me. And Iggy, the idiot, couldn't even feel the burning curiosity radiating from everyone's eyes. I gave him a subtle combination tap/pinch on the wrist and cleared my throat.

"What?" he said, breathing softly in my ear.

"Flock . . . watching . . . stop . . ." I hissed. He chuckled and grabbed my wrist before taking off.

"We'll be back," he said to Max as he dragged me into the air. My wings were feeling sort of tense after flying to a town and back, and then flying away and back, but having no choice other than to snap open my wings again or have my arm torn off, I chose the former.

"Don't do anything illegal," Fang called after us, getting his revenge for what Iggy had done to him and Max last night. Iggy and I's faces colored and we looked away from each other, dropping each other's hands in mortification. How he even knew the direction I wasn't in, and perfectly opposite my position, was beyond me.

But by this time, it was late afternoon, and good enough to put my plan into action. I re-snagged Iggy's hand and held it to my lips. "Follow me," I said, "I've got a surprise for you."

"What kind of surprise?" he asked warily.

"A special one," I replied softly, leading him towards where I would put the plan into action. The surprise would be the biggest shock of his life.

We flapped down gently to an enbankment. I let go of his hand and prepared myself. Maybe I should do meditation? Yoga? Meh, not enough time. I had to get this done before night settled and I couldn't see anything. Espieceally Iggy.

"Kari?" Iggy asked, a trace of fear in his voice, "Where are you?"

I reached out with a hand. "I'm here, don't worry Iggy." I put my hand on his shoulder and pushed him to the ground. "Sit." I sat with him, criss-cross applesauce, directly opposite him. "So Iggy, ready to receive your birthday present?"

"W- what kind of birthday present?" Iggy asked, nervous as I touched his face.

"Don't move," I ordered as I steadied his face between my fingers, "Relax. This might be a little uncomfortable."

"Kari. What are you going to do?" Iggy asked, "Just tell me."

"It's. A. Surprise," I stated firmly.

"This could be taken in so many weird, different directions," Iggy mumbled, "From something perverted, to a joke, to something that could kill me, to something amazing. I'm just going to have to trust you, aren't I?"

"Yes," I said, kissing his lips softly, "But shut up." He took a deep breath and held perfectly still. A statue couldn't have done better. I felt the corners of my mouth turn up as an involuntary smile began. Iggy. You're in caring, maybe not safe, but caring hands. And that was when I started to hum a melody. Not something I had heard on the radio, not something I had sung before, but something entirely new, that I had no idea what it was.

_Once upon a time, you sung this. Twice in fact. Once as a lullaby for your Flock, who were too scared of what was happening to sleep, and once for Aero after he told you he loved you. You were always an amazing singer, Kari. Go on, sing._

The quiet night unfolds,

The sky begins to black,

The stars bright, young and old,

Show you coming back.

The night creatures come out,

It's dark as dark can be,

The moon's face shows its doubt,

As you come running fast to me.

Sometimes,

It's not easy,

Sometimes,

You feel alone.

Sometimes,

I'll be there for you,

But always,

I'll be your own.

I'll be your own,

To love and care,

I'll feel your tears,

I'll feel your pain.

Hold me,

I'll be yours only.

Love me,

I'm yours.

The feel of the music sliding out of my throat and into the twilight gave me a sense of peace. The song, the lyrics, everything was perfect. Did I really make this song up?

_Yes, you're quite the songwriter._

'Thank you.'

Iggy twitched and struggled underneath my fingers as I held him steady, directing the flow of my healing towards his eyes. I sang the song over and over until I felt like it was time to stop. I let go of his pale face, letting my fingers linger over the blond strands of hair in the way.

"Don't do anything yet, don't open your eyes, heck, don't even breathe until I say so," I said, standing up and walking over to a stump. I poked my hand in the hollow, hoping that there was nothing in it and removed a small cake. It's one of those kinds that are meant for one or two. It was pretty, vanilla with white icing. It had delicate green icing vines and a couple of blue flowers on the edges, with 'I love you' written in the middle. I brushed off some dead grass from the plastic casing and opened said case, poking in a candle in the middle of the 'o' in 'love'.

I walked back over to Iggy, who was, amazingly, still holding his eyes closed. I blinked and the candle alighted with flame. "All right Iggy, open your eyes," I said, holding the cake in both hands like an offering.

Iggy gave a huge sigh and opened his eyes slowly. He gasped and blinked several times in succession, rubbing his eyes hard with his knuckles.

"Kari! I can see!" he said, breathless with wonder as he blinked rapidly.

"Happy birthday Iggy," I said softly, smiling gently, "Happy birthday."


	60. Chapter 55

Chapter 55

"Kari. Kari, did you do this?" he asked, still amazed, looking at the moon, the fading light, the cake, me, and anything he could get his eyes to, "This is awesome!" I smiled slowly. Thank God. I though he might've been spazzing out about stuff.

His eyes fell upon the cake and he smiled. Then his eyes fell upon me, actually looking at me for more than a half-second. I blushed under his gaze.

"Kari," he said, "I'm going to be straight-forward. You are probably the most beautiful girl I have had the chance to look at."

I raised an eyebrow slightly, "I'm the only girl you're able to look at now. Who's to know whether your eyes don't stray to other girls?" With that question out, I just realized what I had done. There were a gazillion better-looking girls out there. He could just as easily ditch me for another. He could go for Max. Heck, he could even go for Nudge instead of me. But, if he was happy, I guess I would be happy for him, even if it meant getting my heart broken and stomped on by a football team. Besides, he really kind of deserved someone better than him, right? Someone who told him the truth? All the time?

Iggy cocked his head to the side cutely. "You're stupid. Now come over here and kiss me before I jump you myself." I blushed a deeper pink at this. He grinned.

"Eat the freaking cake," I mumbled, handing it to him.

"What, no forks?" he asked, sounding like I just personally insulted him. I glanced over and an icing-covered finger poked my nose. "Gotcha." I frowned, running two fingers through the cake deliberately and ran them across his cheekbones.

"Now you're a hockey player," I replied, sucking off the icing from my fingers. His long fingers played across the cake's mutilated surface, as though he was going to get me back.

"Not on your life," I snapped, as he glanced at me again, wiping off the icing from my nose, "I'd win in a food fight." He looked at me imploringly. That gaze melted my resolve.

"Uh, y-you forgot to blow out the candle," I stuttered. Funny how one look could turn me to jelly. He paused, then blew out the candle. "What'd you wish for?" I asked.

"I can show you better than I can tell you," he said as his lips collided with mine. I smiled under his mouth as I kissed back.

"Hey Iggy, watch this," I said, breaking us apart. I held up an index finger and a flame lit upon it. This was cool. Now I didn't have to scream like a banshee to get any power going.

_Yes, but only for small things. To do this, you only have to think about it. Your powers are maturing fast, but to do something BIG you'll need your voice. _

I mentally rolled my eyes, ticking the flame from finger to finger in succession. Iggy's eyes watched, sliding from side to side. "You want it?" I asked, holding my finger out to him, "It won't burn you." The flame jumped to his finger at my look and began to jump along his hand as I told it. He smiled.

"Why isn't it burning me?" he asked.

"Something in my saliva," I replied, letting the fire flare out from embarrassment.

"Care to test that theory?" he asked, leaning in to kiss me again. This time it was a while before we split, my head spinning madly. Iggy grinned at me, breathing hard. He stared deeply into my eyes, lovingly. And I was stuck like a deer in headlights. Seemingly, everything was getting brighter. Iggy's eyes were getting brighter. I couldn't look at anything else. Then there was a flash of white and I didn't know where I was.


	61. Chapter 56

Chapter 56

Where was I? It was completely white. Just, unending white. And I was floating. Uh-oh. I twisted around to feel my wings. I sighed in relief. They didn't feel like they were there, but they were. I glanced around, feeling the white burn my eyes and closed them in pain. It was blinding. The only color was me.

Am I able to move? I tried swimming. Nope. Flying? Nuh-uh. Walking? Nada. Where was I dangit?! Oh god. Maybe I was in a sensory-deprivation chamber. Max had mentioned it once. With a shudder. But then again, I wouldn't be able to see anything.

. . .

Dammit! Where was I?!

_You're with me._

'Where?!' I asked frustratedly.

_Inside your mind. _

My breath caught, 'What?'

_Did I stutter? You're inside your mind. _

'What did Iggy do to me?!' I fumed.

_He took control of your body. _

'Oh God. Does he know what happened?'

_Not yet._

'Can I get him out?' I asked desperately.

_I dunno. Let me show you a better view._

The world sped up and I was behind my eyes. Thank god. No more white. I could feel Iggy's presence. It was like I was the eyes and he was my body.

"Where am I?" I heard myself say, "Why am I looking at myself? Am I dead?!"

_Tell him to calm down; he can hear you._

'Iggy!' I mentally shouted, 'Calm down!'

"Where am I?!" Iggy-me shouted, "Kari?!"

'You're me,' I replied, 'Just chill.'

Iggy-me took a deep breath, "What happened?"

'I'm going to guess you got a new power. Lucky you,' I said scathingly, 'Now get out of my body.'

I watched him finger a piece of my red hair. He blinked and a grass on the ground caught alight. He pinched it out.

'Stop messing around,' I hissed, 'Get out!'

He smirked, "I quite like this new body. I can control fire, among other things."

'Among other things?!' I shrieked, 'GET OUT NOW!'

I felt my face go into a mock pout, "Do I have to?" He ran a hand along his (my) calf and tousled his (my) hair.

'GET OUT BEFORE I KILL YOU,' I screamed, willing with all my might to get him out. There was a loud ringing noise and I was back. But my head felt like it was hit by a semi. I blinked dizzily and shook my head. Ow, that just made it worse.

My head cleared suddenly, just as I was probably about to faint from the pain in my head.

_You can thank me for that later._

'Roger,' I replied. Iggy was across from me, blinking his eyes like me, trying to get his eyes to clear. I stood up, furious. He was dead. He was worse than dead.

"You do that again, I'll kill you, dig you up, clone you, kill you again, and then kill your clones. Happily," I yelled into his ear, knowing that it would hurt his head. He moaned in response, holding his head.

"I've got the biggest hangover on the planet," he mumbled.

"I could say you deserve it," I sniffed.

"Kari, I'm sorry," he said, smiling slightly at the rhyme, "Really really really sorry."

I hummed a piece of 'Beethoven's Fifth' to help him clear his head. And then I picked up the cake. I was seriously deliberating whether to smash the cake in his face. I set it down. I was too soft-hearted. That didn't stop me from totally not trying to make him pay. I grabbed his wrist and bent it down until he yelped.

"You owe me big time, blind kid," I said as he recovered his hand, "Don't forget that I'm incredibly dangerous."

"Don't forget," he said huskily, "That now I am too." This conceded in a full-out make-out session. I don't really want to go into detail. Hee.

We finally flopped down on the grass together, panting. I pulled a leaf out of my hair and adjusted my shirt. And no, we didn't do anything illegal.

"Kari," Iggy said after a while, "This really has been one of the best birthdays I've had. New power, good cake, and you, all to myself." He nuzzled my cheek like a cat and I giggled.

Then I sighed, "I love you Iggy."

Iggy was suddenly sitting up and pulling me to him, unfurling his wings and letting them brush my neck, making me shiver with the feathery touch. He kissed my neck.

"Kari," he said softly, seriously, looking into my amber eyes with his blue, "I love you too." Then he cracked a grin, "But my real name is James."

I cracked up. Iggy? A James? He laughed along with me. That was the part I most loved.


	62. Chapter 57

Chapter 57

After a while we went back to the camp, startling Max. She thought we were Erasers until I lit up the area with a fire ball. She sighed in relief.

I elbowed Iggy, "Um, Max, Ig here has something to tell you."

"Like what? He's really a clone?" she asked, "Why do you sound so serious?" We stared at her with quiet disbelief until she got her act together and opened her mouth in distaste. "Okay guys, what's the big news?"

"Iggy, tell Max what color her shirt is," I said, trying to show Max without freaking her out too much.

"It's blue with green stripes," he said automatically. Max's eyes widened.

"Iggy?" she whispered, breathless, "Can you see?" He gave her a sheepish smile and kissed my cheek.

"Kari did it, as a birthday present," Iggy said.

"That's amazing!" Max exclaimed, excitement lighting up her face. She hugged him joyfully.

Derrick, in his sleep, stirred and eventually got up, yawning as I watched him. "What's up?" he asked, curious about our little pow-wow.

"I cured Iggy's blindness," I responded, "And he's got a new power."

"What power?" Max asked.

"Uh, I'm not really sure," I said, "He can just switch bodies with people."

"With people, that would mean you," Max said coolly, "Ig, I hope you didn't get into trouble."

"Uh no, not really," he said as I gave a meaningful stomp on his foot, "I'm gonna go to bed." I gave an answering yawn in addition. We curled up underneath a tree, my head resting on his chest. He didn't want to go to sleep, with his improved vision and all, but eventually the exhaustion wore him out. I was just about to doze off when I saw him. Derrick. What in the heck was he doing?

"Oh my gosh," he said, acting surprised, "Is that an Eraser?" He jumped up from his seat on the ground and ran off into the forest. Max threw my-seemingly sleeping body a withering look and dashed off after him. Oh crap. Either Derrick was totally faking it (really bad) or he had actually seen an Eraser (also really bad). He couldn't fight to save his life. Other people had to.

I untangled Iggy's arms and legs from mine and jumped up, kicking Fang in the gut as I went by. Sure he'd be pissed, but Max was his girlfriend, lest I remind him. He gagged and, after a searching look from me, followed me into the forest. What I saw I could not believe.

Derrick. Kissing Max. Against her will. She kept trying to push him away, but he held her in place firmly, seemingly having more power than usual. He ferociously kissed her, even though he could feel her freaking out. That . . . JERK! He was my brother, but no guy could, or freaking should, do that to a girl! I opened my mouth to blast him to next Tuesday.

I heard a low, angry growl behind me. I expected a bear, but it was Fang. His pupils were narrowed to dark, cat-like slits. He crackled with his black energy. Oh god. It was practically in flames on him! He growled again. Well, it wasn't really like a growl, but some deep angry noises in his throat.

He stepped forward with a huge stomp, trying to get Derrick's attention. Nothing, except Max saw Fang and started repeatedly kicking Derrick in the shins, trying to get free even more. Nothing phased Derrick. Nothing at all.

Fang raised a flaming hand, pointed at Derrick's vulnerable back. Oh God. He was going to kill him. "No!" I cried, leaping forward and hanging onto Fang's arm. He made another angry noise at me. "No! Fang, you can't! He's my brother!" I said, "Don't hurt him! You'll kill him if you hit him!" The bloodlust in his eyes was overwhelming.

"Nonononononononono!" I screamed as a bolt of black energy whisked past Derrick's shirt, turning it to dust. Ew. Derrick needed to work out more. It got his attention though and he reluctantly unattached his lips from Max with a sound like a leech being pulled off. Disgusting. He growled back at Fang and flung poor Max to the side where she just barely caught herself from falling in the dirt. I rushed to her side and helped her up by the elbow.

"She's mine," Fang stated, throughly P.. Derrick gave a deep, heart-wrenching laugh.

"She's not yours anymore, loser," Derrick said. Um, who was this guy? He was surely not my brother. I squeezed Max's hand in fear. What could become of this? Who would be the one hurt? And who would be the one standing over the broken, declaring victory?


	63. Chapter 58

Chapter 58

Fang gave an angry yell, his eyes burning hatred at my own brother. At least I think he was my brother. I had no idea anymore. Fang lashed out with a vengeance, shooting flames nine feet into the night air all around Derrick. I felt my face pale. Oh my god. I might have to witness the death of my own flesh and blood.

Derrick leaped out of the flames without one touching him – my mouth completely agape; where had he gotten superhuman powers from?! - and gave a couple loud claps, "Bravo emo-kid, is that the best you got?"

Fang bared his teeth. Ah, that's where the name originated. I wonder, did he have a tendency to bite? I glanced over at Max, fear expressed openly on her face. She had just had her mouth openly ravaged by a guy she didn't like, and now she was watching her boyfriend fight that same guy. Poor girl. She looked into my face and set her jaw.

"I'm stopping this pointless display of testosterone before someone gets hurt. I'm the cause of all this," she said, walking towards the two verbally-fighting guys.

"So Fang, is it true, are you really a gay-wad?" Derrick asked laughingly.

"Well since I've got the girl, you must have the guy," Fang retorted quietly. I saw Derrick's face flush. That one had backfired on him.

"You mess with the bull, you get the horns," Derrick said, cracking his knuckles.

"Or you let it chase you around until its overconfidence lets it run into a brick wall," Fang said seriously, his face straight. I choked back a laugh. Where had he come up with this? Saturday morning cartoons?

"Enough!" Max roared, fully in their fight now, "You idiots are trying to kill each other over me when your real targets should be the scientists and Erasers! You make me sick!" She spit on the ground between them, "I'm no flippin' princess to be fought kingdoms over! I'm a mutant bird-kid bent on saving the whole dang world! So save the playful banter and kiss and make up!" I felt a shiver go down my spine. Max had never said anything about saving the world. That could only mean that this was going to keep getting worse.

Derrick smiled, "You're mine Max." He gave a cruel laugh that made my face go white. Who was he? Then Derrick did something odd. He cocked his head and nodded to nothing.

"Perfect," he said. He held his hands together as if in prayer, closing his eyes. He clapped his hands lightly, twice. Then his arms went all the way back. His hands came together in slow motion and super-speed, as if he were trying to shatter all his fingers at once. A resounding boom came off his fingers. A sonic wave.

Max and Fang both yelled and were blasted off their feet, Derrick grinning sadistically. Trees were blown backwards, their roots ripped clean out of the ground. The wave eventually stopped, and Derrick looked at his hands with new power.

"Max?! Fang?!" I cried out, frantic. Where had they gone? Were they alright?

Derrick smiled at me and came over, "Look, little sister. A new age is dawning. Together, we can do what we were designed to do. Come with me."

"Derrick?! Who are you?!" I asked worriedly. He took hold of my hand in an iron grip. I wriggled helplessly, not wanting to hurt him. His overgrown fingernails bit into my skin and I winced, taking full advantage to crush his instep beneath my sneaker. He blinked.

And this was the kid who if I flicked on the back of the head whined about it for 10 minutes.

He began to drag me along behind him, my wrist in pain. Fire. I got my hand to flame and punched him in the back with it. The skin sizzled, but he didn't flinch, and when I looked at his back, there was no sign that I had even burned him.

"Derrick, what do you mean?! What do I have to do with any of this?!" I asked.

He shifted, laying his other lethal hand upon mine. "Dear sister, if you've got the explosion, just think of what we can do together. I've got the wave to send your explosions to crumble the great cities of the world. Robyn would've eventually gotten the power to become magnetic to anything she pleased. Phantom already had the power to become invisible and get through walls, just like an escape artist should."

"Clowd could control the weather. Falon could put the major leaders of the world under her power. Aero could substitute anything for something else. Kari, with these powers, we could do what we were created to do," he said, watching my face as the truth dawned on me. Oh my god. I had never realized the purposes. We all knew the circumstances. That's the first thing the scientists told us. But we were rebels. Always against those evil idiots.

"You were just too full of yourself to see the big picture Kari," Derrick sneered, "Because I'm taking charge now."

"Derrick," I whispered, "What happened?"

He leaned in close to my ear, "Darling sister, I have the same thing you do. They put it in me when you did the dirty work, testing. Why do you think you needed the nanobytes? It's broken. But mine's not. And that's why I'm taking charge. Right here. Right now."

"I don't think so," Angel said in her commanding voice. My shoulders slumped. You could always count on a six-year-old to save the day. She heard me and grinned, then turned back to Derrick with a grimace on her face. "Let go of Kari, now." He let go of my hand and I rubbed my wrist, already turning purple with bruising.

Then he grabbed his head and began moaning. Huh? "Go away," Angel said.

Derrick gave a heart-wrenching scream, watching Angel with crazed eyes. "Leave me alone!" he screamed, "Go away!" He crumpled in a ball, still screaming like a banshee.

"Derrick?!" I asked worriedly, laying a hand on his shaking shoulder. He screamed louder, as if my hand was coated in acid, his face turning red. "DERRICK?!" I shouted, "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!" He then went very still, not making a sound, collapsing on the ground with skin as gray as cement.


	64. Chapter 59

Chapter 59

"Is it safe?" I heard Iggy say hesitantly to Angel. I ran over to Derrick.

"What's wrong with you dammit!?" I screamed after a few minutes, pounding on Derrick's chest with my fists. Unorthodox, I know. Involuntary tears began to flow down my face. "Get up and say something perverted!"

"It's safe," Angel replied over my outburst, "Come on out guys." I heard a scuffling sound and turned, tears still dripping. I laid a hand on Derrick's head. Cool. I picked up his hand and felt for a pulse. Whew. There. Okay, now I could get distracted. I wiped my face roughly with my sleeve and turned to meet the Flock.

The whole Flock.

Max and Fang were alive! A little bruised and battered, but alive! I rushed forward and flung my arms around them. "Oh thank God! You're alive!" I cried.

"Barely," Fang said humorlessly. I hugged him tighter, even though it was like hugging a brick wall.

"Kari," Max said, "Derrick is dangerous. He needs to go. Now. He could kill one of us next time. You're all right. But he needs to go." My face hardened. No.

"So what's the ultimatim for my response?" I asked harshly, letting go of the two leaders.

"Before Derrick wakes up," Max said, "I don't want my face flattened by his new powers and attitude."

"What about your attitude?" I snapped back.

"My attitude is under control, unlike yours. Hothead," Max muttered. Evil little –

I grabbed her neck. Everyone froze and Fang growled again. "Don't you EVER call me that. You have no idea what my life is like." I let go of her throat. She rubbed it, glaring daggers. "My decision is already made. I'm leaving."

"For what? The good of the planet?" Fang snickered evilly. Jerk. I can't believe I thought him funny.

"Yes, you butt-brained moron!" I fumed.

"And what exactly are you trying to do?" Max sneered, "Save the world like me?! Yeah right."

"You don't know JACK Maximum Ride! JACK!" I yelled in her face. She blinked. "Screw you! Screw your Flock! I've been keeping you twits safe! Who busted their butt saving you guys and almost died?! Huh?!"

She really lost her temper then, screaming, "Go to hell!"

I laughed softly and she frowned. "Dear, dear Max," I whispered, "I'm already in hell. Have been for the longest time." I snapped open my wings with the demon-angel thing that looked cool and let them partly unfurl around my body. I stepped backward.

She looked shocked for once and I got the chance to turn to Iggy. "I really do love you, you know. But I'm not good for you at all. And the reason I'm leaving? Too much to deal with and too many secrets," I said.

"But Kari -," Iggy said, stepping towards me, arms held out.

I made the shushing sound. "I made a deal with the devil Iggy. Stay away from me if you want to stay safe." I stepped backward all the way to Derrick. Tears started flowing again. Oh my god, what was wrong with me?! Was I on my dot or something?!

I turned to Max. "I'm sorry for what I said but I won't abandon my only brother left. I'm gone." I bowed my head, something Robyn once said was respectful. "Goodbye."

I took hold of Derrick's light body and tested my wings. All set to go. I should've done this a long time ago. I was too dangerous. I flapped amongst the trees for a second, taking a mental snapshot of the Flock. I blew an air kiss to Iggy.

"Wait!" Max called as I was about to soar off, "Why do you have to go?!"

"I'm your supposed enemy!" I yelled back, "I am supposed to destroy the world, and I want no part in it!" Shoot. There go the tear ducts again. The faces of the Flock were all shocked, even Fang, but Angel wasn't.

"I'll see you soon Kari!" Angel said brightly. Huh? And with that weird thing in place, I soared off as gracefully as I could. With the bulk of my brother weighing me down, along with my troubles, it was amazing I could even walk. So now the truth is out. Are you afraid of me?


	65. Chapter 60

Chapter 60

'Dirty Little Secret' began playing in my head. Get out, get out, get out! This was NOT cool. I stoked the fire and watched Derrick snore. I'd stay up all night. But there was no way I was going to bed with him going berserk all the time. Yes, Max was right.

I had let my temper get the better of me, and I too was afraid of Derrick. I sighed, tensing when an owl hooted. So long Max, heroine of the mutants. So long Fang, sarcastic emo-kid. Goodbye Nudge, chatterbox of the damned. Gazzy, digestive mess-up. Angel, sweet disturbing mind-reader. I sighed again.

Goodbye Iggy, the love I could only dream about. Amazing, lovely, beautiful, perfect birdkid. I sniffled and sucked it up. Pull it together! To defeat your destiny, you've got to be strong, not emotionally unstable! I dug my stick into the dirt, a grimace on my face.

I chanced another sideways glance at Derrick. He was squirming again. Ugh. And he still didn't have a shirt. I'd have to steal one. No more credit card and fancy life for me. Man. Hey, wait. What was that?

Derrick had something on his back. A tattoo? But where would he have gotten a tattoo without my knowing? I wriggled closer. I didn't want to do this. I touched his back. Ew. I did it.

With the nausea of untanned, unmuscled flesh behind me, I created a flame to look by. I leaned in to see – a burn? Me? No. This was, like, a way-infected burn, which was impossible. I touched it. Ow. It felt like an electrical charge went through my skin. I bit my lip. What was this?

What if it was what Derrick said?

_He leaned in close to my ear, "Darling sister, I have the same thing you do. They put it in me when you did the dirty work, testing. Why do you think you needed the nanobytes? It's broken. But mine's not. And that's why I'm taking charge. Right here. Right now." _

I immediately freaked. I had one?! I tried twisting around, only getting a mouthful of my own dirty feathers instead of a glance at the base of my spine. Just like where Derrick's was. I calmed down. I could spaz out later.

But nanobytes? Well, it had to do with technology. And what dirty work? Testing? Testing the thing that could possibly be on me?! And the nanobytes would fix the technology in my spine to – what? I was weirding myself out again! I shook my head. Stupid soul. It seemed to be on vacation or something. Maybe maternity leave. I snorted.

A twig cracked behind me. I stiffened, senses on high alert. I turned around slowly, coming face to face with – oh my god. Jakob. He sneered as I felt my face go dark. B******. B******! I caught my face in a puddle of water. Oh, I liked the new deathly pale look, coupled with bared teeth and slitted, deep red eyes. I guess the amber changes.

I gave Jakob a creepy grin, "How do you live when others die?" He looked startled for a second.

He began to morph back into human form. "My brain has a device in it so I can't be killed," he said, acting like the supreme being for having a chip in his head.

I smiled. Perfect. Exactly what I wanted to hear. I thought there would be clones involved, but hey, what's one Eraser to the scientists? "Then you wouldn't mind – IF I REALLY KILLED YOU!" I screamed, punching him upside the head with a flaming fist.

"You hurt Robyn, you're going to die!" I yelled, raking my nails down his arm. Blood splattered on my jeans.

He jumped back, grinning, "That's not all I did hothead. You'll figure it out eventually!" He ran into the forest, melding with the trees. I gave a whole-body shudder, looking at my blood-streaked fingers.

More growls. I turned. Oh crap. I was mincemeat.

9 Erasers surrounded me, probably back-up that had been radioed in by Jakob. I launched into action, tearing a limb open there, popping an eye out there. I wasn't close to winning though. I was getting beat. Bad. So beat I couldn't feel any pain.

A punch to the head and I went down. Why can't I move my arm?

_It's broken._

Really?

_Yeah. You're gonna lose consciousness soon._

Really?

_Yes, and when that happens, you'll finally find out what the past holds. _

I felt a rush of glee at these words. And then I got kicked in the stomach. Ow. I felt that. Internal organ damage? I hope not.

_They're here._

What's here? The brain-sucking aliens?

_Ew, no. _

I mentally sighed, since I think I broke a rib. I cracked open an eye and watched the Erasers pick up Derrick and run off with him. No! It took all my willpower to stand up, favoring my right leg. I wouldn't let them take Derrick. After all I left behind for him. I faltered.

The Erasers surrounding me laughed at my feebleness. I would've liked to kick their disgusting butts, but at that moment, I fell to the ground, landing on my broken rib. What was that howling sound? Oh. Me. Howling in pain. The pain I couldn't feel. Right.

I closed my eyes as I felt a light tickling in my head. That had to be my soul, probably messing with my memories.

_Ready Kari? After this, I'll mostly be gone._

I nodded wearily.

"Yahhhhhhh!" I heard in the distance. I blinked and looked up. Max. Fang. Iggy. Flock. Come to help? Help. Me? I couldn't think straight. Must. Time. My vision circled, black creeping around the edges. Maybe now I could give myself to believing. Believing that there were people who cared about me. And giving myself to the dark void of my last memories.


	66. Chapter 61

Chapter 61

I blinked as I found myself in one of the same memories I had had before. My Flock was sitting in a circle around me, Robyn and Aero to my right and left. The sterile hospital smell crept into my nose and I fought back a gag. Disgusting.

"Guys," I said, looking around at each of my Flock, "You know what we were created to do. We were created for that purpose, but we don't have to follow those idiot scientists' lines. We have our own fates. And therefore, we're going to break out of here. Phantom, you phase though the walls and disconnect the alarm system. Keep invisible and then hurry back. Clowd, break open the door with lightning. Take your thumb out of your mouth, sweetie. Okay, as soon as the door is busted, Falon, go outside and do what you do best. Aero, you change the ceiling into whatever and we're out of here!" I smiled as everyone gave a little cheer. They all disesembled to other parts of the room. Robyn and Aero stayed. So did Derrick.

Aero whispered warmly in my ear, "Are you sure everything will be all right?"

"Everything will be fine, this is our second breakout," I assured him, "Everything will be a-okay." I kissed his cheek while Robyn and Derrick made kissy faces in the background. "Now all we have to do is wait."

"What are we waiting for again?" Derrick asked.

I sighed, "You know what. We're waiting for the daily check-up." Thank God the scientists couldn't hear us. We'd screwed up the video cameras and everything else bugged so they didn't know what was going on. And they still didn't know what the problem was. Plus, I think Phantom drugged the guards earlier with our food. Aero takes out the drugs every meal.

"We're gonna keep the scientists occupied while Phantom slips out through the walls to the power box and disconnects the alarm," Aero whispered.

"This escape should be a snap," Robyn said, clicking her fingers, a touch of Asian in her voice, "The scientists have gotten lazier and less attentive than usual."

"Got that right," Derrick said, laying a hand over her shoulders. She beat him off.

"Do not even think about it," she hissed. I smirked. My best friend.

We had thought out this plan for weeks, after that little month of freedom, well, freed us. It was the best thing to happen to us. And we were gonna break out again. See, the scientists captured us after a little stealing fiasco in a department store. What? We needed new Keds.

I remember the Erasers swarming into the store, fighting, but the next thing I knew, we were back in our old rooms. Well, you can't have everything. I glanced around at the etched white walls of the main room. We'd drawn pictures of airplanes after we got back, along with all of us flying, different foods, and other amazing stuff that they didn't have in this joint.

"Time," I heard somebody whisper and I languidly sunk into a chair, examining my fingernails as though the minute beforehand we hadn't been plotting an escape. The others assumed positions like mine around the room. The door swung back with a whoosh and the scientists tromped in. Lovely. Time to put Plan Get-out into action.

"OMG, you, like, have the prettiest eyes I've, like, ever, ever seen!" Falon squealed to a mud-eyed scientist. He blinked as Falon turned her entire preppy-girl charm on him. Good girl.

Aero started complaining about something in his wings. Clowd wailed, fake-crying his cute little heart out. Derrick simply made weird noises and acted like he didn't know where they were coming from. And Robyn, with a grimace, flirted with a fish-face scientist. The last one came up to me.

"Experiment 673-02," he said, nodding curtly. He held out a needle to my arm and I took it, jamming it repeatedly into the floor like an idiot.

"Lalalalahlahla," I sang, acting stupid, "Bang. Bang. Crunch." The scientist stared at me, looking at his clipboard with obvious confusion. From the corner of my eye, I saw Phantom dissipate into the wall. Coolio. Phase (excuse the pun) one done.

It took a few minutes for Phantom to get back, with an embarrassing and stupid distraction from me including running around the room without my pants. He gave one of his slight grins at me and I gave him a thumbs-up behind my back. After taking a couple blood tests, the still-baffled scientists filed out the door. I waited until the door did its almost inaudible 'ding' before I took the insane smile off my face.

We all laughed heartily. Before I signaled to Clowd, I gave each and everyone of them a hug for good luck. "This is going to be great guys," I whispered, "And when we're finally free, it'll be a paradise. I love you guys and good luck." They all chorused the last line back to me before it was time for Phase Two.

Clowd stood in front of the doorway and took his thumb out of his mouth. He held out his hands and closed his eyes. After seeing him do this countless times, I still couldn't get over the awesomeness of his power. Clowd's hair began to float on its own and when he opened his eyes, his usual blues bright silvery-white, a bolt of lightning came out of nowhere and completely fried the door. I smiled. Even though Clowd summoning his power was sometimes a bad thing, like the fact that it brought rain every time he used it, it was still amazing.

I stepped over the twisted metal and ran out into the corridor. Now it was Falon's turn to shine. The scientists must've heard that. They'd be coming. I saw a black shoe in the threshold of a door and whispered, "Now!" Falon raced out and stood in the middle of the corridor as a mix of scientists and Erasers flooded out of separate rooms.

She smiled sweetly and began sending out her pheromones. Only us girls could see the almost invisible whitish-green orbs (or rather spores) floating off her body. And since most of the scientists and all the Erasers here are male, it worked out nicely. They all went loopy and slumped lazily against the white walls. Perfect.

I signaled the rest out and began to tell Aero to get the ceiling when I felt a strange tingling in my head. I shook it off. Probably an adrenaline rush from getting ready to escape. At my command, Aero turned the ceiling into a storm cloud from outside. We got soaked. Clouds always seem light and fluffy, but they're flimsy and wet. Fun, fun.

For what seemed like forever, we were finally there. In the sky. I took a huge gulp of air and sighed. Fresh air. Wet. Not medical. Mmm.

And that was when we hit a forcefield in that lovely sky. A forcefield that surrounded the entire Academy.


	67. Chapter 62

Chapter 62

I fell for a while, completely zapped by the barrier. I think it might've fried my eyebrows off. Well, not completely. I glanced around after catching myself, my wings making powerful downstrokes to keep my body aloft. Good, everyone was a-okay. They followed me in a circle down to the grassy fields of the Atrium.

"Everyone not barbequed?" I asked. They nodded an affirmative. It was then that I realized we were surrounded by Erasers. I took a fighting stance. This had all been a set-up. I had just realized that. Crap. Crap, crap, crap. But a set-up for what?

A single Eraser, followed by the head scientist and Jeb, stepped out from the crowd. Lucky me. The Eraser had to be Jakob.

I waved, "Hi, loser!"

He waved back, his middle finger sticking up, "Hi, you little witch."

I smiled back at him, "Who are you calling little, you short turd?" He was a 12 year old kid and still full of crap. Amazing how people can corrupt you at such a young age.

He morphed into Eraser form then, "Let's see how little you are when I squash you like a tin can smart-***." He snapped his jaws, teeth scissoring the air.

"Tsk, tsk," I snorted, "Little boys who say bad words need to have their mouths washed out with ACID." I narrowed my eyes in that way that clearly says, 'Back off, or die, you insipid wretch'.

He growled at me, and took a step forward.

"Careful doggy, I'm not replaceable. You are," I said spitefully.

He took another step forward.

"Don't trip over your own inflated ego, toddler," I spat.

He growled again, practically roaring with the frustration that threatened to kill him. And me. But he couldn't touch me. Academy policy to Erasers. Thank god.

"Jakob," the head scientist said, "Control yourself."

Jakob growled again before retreating, "Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."

"Yes puppy," I cooed, "Go back to your master with your tail between your legs and up your worthless butt." I heard Phantom stifle a snicker. Ah, the kid is priceless with mean jokes. Gotta love him.

Jakob snarled at me again and I said in a stage-whisper back to my Flock, "Phew, anyone got Purell? I think I just got contaminated by an idiot."

"Jakob, you may have your chance yet," Jeb said, "Would you like to do the honors on my mark?" He held out a wireless remote kind of contraption. I felt a sudden weight in my stomach and an ominous dread overcame me. That remote could NOT bring joy.

"Kari," Jeb said, turning to me, "You have directly disobeyed orders to comply with our plans."

"Yes, Mr. Webster," I scoffed, "Why didn't you throw in 'soliloquy'?"

"You have been distracted by these other experiments," he waved a hand around at my Flock, "And therefore, you must have no more distractions. You and Derrick are really the only ones needed anymore."

My eyes flicked from the Flock to Jeb to Jakob (who was itching to press the button) in lightning speed. Needed? They were going to kill my Flock?! I bit back a scream of rage and crept lower into another stance, defensive and offensive. We hadn't learned a lot from that gang we stayed with the month we got out for nothing.

"You think we're going to kill them?!" The head honcho of the Academy laughed, "Stupid experiment, YOU'RE going to kill them!" He motioned for two Erasers to grab Derrick and drag him away at that time. I felt the color drain from my face and then laughed lowly.

"Ya can't make me flesh-bag," I said, obviously pointing out the fact that he was horrendously overweight.

"Oh, but we can," Jeb said as every Eraser in sight dissipated, "This will teach you that you are nothing but a pawn in the game of the future." Yeah, the fatherly feeling you got when you looked at him? Not there. And now there was a manic glint in his eye. Works for him, I guess.

"Jakob," he signaled. I froze. Thank god the Flock was backing away from me.

"Kari," Jakob said before he pressed the button, "I am going to be so happy to see you ultimately suffering. You deserve it. And though I have a choice to push this button or not, I WILL." He smiled wolfily as he pressed the button.

'Click,' went off inside my mind. I sunk to the ground, not having any feeling in my body. The base of my spine burned like hell. That was the only thing I could feel. And then, then I rose up again, my arms swinging listlessly.

I couldn't feel anything. All I know is that when I took a step forward, I wasn't in control of my body; I was barely in control of my face. The scientists and Jakob were controlling me. I had grown claws and fangs. And I was going after my Flock.


	68. Chapter 63

Chapter 63

"NO! STOP IT! PLEASE!" I screamed, as I stumbled forward, "I'LL DO ANYTHING! ANYTHING! PLEASE STOP! PLEASE!" When I just heard Jakob and the others laughing, I knew nothing would prevent this. Unless I killed myself. But I didn't have control. I would have gladly killed myself for the sake of my Flock.

But now I was going to kill them.

I staggered stiff-legged towards Falon. She screamed and ran, seeing the zombie-ness of me. I ran faster, cutting her off and raising a claw. A tear slipped down my cheek. My hand whooshed towards her trembling form, ready to cut her throat, but she disappeared. I almost sagged in relief. Phantom, in a split second, had grabbed Falon and disappeared.

"Thanks a lot Phantom," I yelled to nothing as I stumbled towards Clowd. No. I couldn't hurt my baby! He stared at me blankly as I stalked him across the field before he called in a mist and disappeared within it.

"Good job baby," I called to Clowd.

Robyn. I grabbed her neck, ready to break it when she disappeared in a poof of smoke. I ended up holding a branch in my hand. Aero.

"Nicely done Aero!" I croaked out. I had almost killed my best friend. That would've been one of the worst things I could do.

Everytime I got close to a Flock member, they were saved by the others. I almost pleaded for Clowd to hit me with a bolt of lightning (I had taken hold of his leg) before Aero rescued him. They were tough, strong, but their weakness was that they wouldn't hurt me. They loved me too much.

And then I began to get the gist of what was happening. I had something implanted, something technological, in the base of my spine, at my nervous system. The scientists were controlling my body through that.

Maybe I could resist? Maybe Aero could take it out? But those were highly impossible ideas. It wouldn't work. I mentally gave a sigh as I walked stiffly back to the evil trio of people for no apparent reason.

"This isn't working," I heard Jeb say as I stopped in front of them, "It's taking too long. Jakob, increase pain modules and lower victim's power sources."

"With pleasure," Jakob growled, clicking two different buttons and holding them down. Click. The pain increased sharply in my head and I screamed, wishing for my hands back to hold my poor head.

"Kari, the only way for the pain to stop is to kill your Flock," Jakob growled, smiling insanely, holding the pain button down more. An inhuman shriek came out of my mouth. It felt like my brain was being ripped apart. I wanted to curl into the fetal position and just die. But I could only just stand there, wailing like a banshee.

"Jakob," Jeb warned, eyes shining as insanely as the Eraser, "Don't turn it up too high, you might make her lose her mind. Or you might kill her." Jakob's hand twitched towards the pain button.

"Jakob, please lower it a tad," the head scientist said, "Her body can't take the stress. All she can do is scream and it's hurting my head. Besides, she needs to kill her Flock." Jakob sighed, turning down the button a bit. The pain was still maddening intense. I whipped around to see Phantom and Falon appearing behind me. Right. They took away their powers. So the powers that we had weren't natural. Lovely. I painfully opened my mouth and shrieked, "Run!"

Too late. I scored a line of gashes across Phantom's wings and back as he jumped to shield Falon from me. Gray and black feathers burst into the air. Blood spattered around me. On me. Phantom's blood. Tears streamed down my face. Actual, not fake, pain clenched around my heart as he fell to the ground, blood spilling out of the ugly lines, twitching.

"No!" Falon screamed, diving to his form, "Phantom! Be strong! Please! I love you too much!" He gave a weak smile in her arms and mouthed, "Love you." His eyes closed and he finished his death throes, lying still on the ground. Tears poured down my face, mixing with the now-falling rain. I raised my lifeless hand again and caught Falon in the back of the neck. She fell to the ground slowly, her spinal cord snapped.

I gave a heart-wrenching scream, my heart aching to death as I looked at their limp bodies. I had just killed two people I had loved. How many more would I have to kill? Every other one. My mind numbed and I barely realized when I fell upon Clowd, piercing his windpipe with my enormous fangs and dropping him to the ground. My baby. My baby. I gave another howl as I stepped over his corpse and went for Robyn.

The rain falling echoed in my ears, the laughing of the scientists as I massacred my Flock. Robyn was next, her beautiful green eyes dulling. I tried to make it quick for her, stabbing her through the heart with my talons. Tears were gushing down my face and I could only sob as I stepped towards Aero. The last one. I had killed my best friend, my baby, my girly-girl, and my dark kid. And now I was going to kill my love. My darling. My boyfriend. Aero.

"Kari," he whispered, "Be strong, fight it." He ducked as my hand whooshed around, barely missing his head. He jumped up, utilizing his wings. I swung at his dangling leg and with a crack, his leg broke, along with one of my claws. Aero fell painfully to the ground.

"I know they're hurting you Kari," he said, wincing as he got to his feet. I swung at him again, my eyes blurring painfully, looking lovely with snot dribbling out of my nose. I felt like a drowned cat. Under mind control.

"Aero!" I cried, "Just run! Please! The others didn't run from me! Please! Run!" I ripped a gash in his arm as the screaming intensified in my brain. They were upping the pain again. "Aero!"

"Kari," he whispered, holding his arm, "I'll always love you." He reached towards me, holding my teary face in his good arm, and touched his lips to me for the last time, "I'll do anything to make you stop suffering." That was the last image I had of him, bloodied and beaten, face shining with the effort, baring his breast to me. I took in the glory of his face, the sandy hair that had brushed along mine so many times. The deep brown eyes that said so much with one look. The face that turned pink if I said one thing to him. My love.

I tore his heart out.

Literally.

He fell to the ground, a slight smile on his face, even as he died.

And then I was free. I screamed loudly, making it echo around the compound. I was covered in blood. My Flock, my family's blood. I gave another inhuman scream. It sounded like a cross between a pissed wildcat and a hurt hawk. Both of which I was. I fell to the ground, looking without seeing the blood upon my hands, my face. The rain washed it away.

Claw.

My claw. I picked it up with a smile, cradling the weapon in my hand. I wouldn't live without my Flock. Redemption at last. I held it to my chest, ready to pierce my heart. I couldn't wait.

Someone tore the claw from my hand. Jakob.

Then I got the real gist of what had happened. I curled on the ground and basically, well, died. Every so often I heard a scientist above me, whispering something about 'shock to the system', and 'killing her family'. Then I heard someone say, 'She's shutting herself down. She's killing herself.' I was so glad. Thank god. Thank you for this. Thank you. Soon I would be with my family.

I was strapped to a table when I was next conscious, unaware of what happened at first. But they had done the procedure wrong. They had damaged the machinery that controlled me in my spine. I would get my memories back. They gave me powers. I would develop powers to destroy. They wiped my memory wrong. I would get my memories back.

Tears flooded down my face as I recalled what had happened months ago. I was out for months.

_I'm so sorry, you just needed to know._

I gave a gurgle.

_I won't talk to you much now. I'll help when I'm needed. Please Kari, be strong._

I would never be the same person again.


	69. Chapter 64

Chapter 64

I woke up from my memory with a scream. I immediately retched all over the ground. And then I lay there sobbing for what seemed like days. Iggy came into my watery vision.

"Kari?" he whispered slowly.

I wouldn't answer anyone. Not even when I healed. I was the enigma in the group, even worse than Fang. I never talked. I barely ate. I just wanted to die. I wanted to be with my Flock.

The three oldest would take me aside often, trying to get me to talk, to get some reaction from me. Fang would tell me funny jokes, and insult me to try and get me to snap back. I took all of his insults in good humor. I deserved each and every one. Max would sometimes get so fed up with me, she almost hit me, which I eagerly anticipated. Then she would rub the space between my wings and murmur comforting words to me.

Iggy would kiss me, and try to get me to laugh. To do anything but what I was doing all the time. Which was silently cry.

I was an emotional wreck. At night I prayed for death, in the morning I would pray for death. I woke up screaming often from that memory over and over. In the middle of a fight, I stood there, letting my Eraser crush me to a pulp.

The body heals fast in comparison to the mind. It took a week to heal the worst injury. It could take a lifetime to forget what happened. I was in the deepest fit of depression you could imagine.

It only happened when Iggy caught me.

It had been months since I got my memory back. Derrick was still missing. I hadn't seen him since. And I didn't care anymore.

I had gone to a nearby store and stolen a book on poisonous plants. Exactly what I wanted. I could die fast. I could die as naturally as a hybrid can.

And yes, I know I could've easily slit my throat or wrists, but I had an aversion to blood. Since . . . then.

For days after, I searched for a plant in the book.

I found nightshade. Perfect.

Iggy caught me. He caught me trying to kill myself with the nightshade.

He grabbed my wrist with a powerful hand and wrenched it. I automatically dropped the nightshade that I was raising to my mouth, looking up at him with a blank expression.

"Dammit Kari!" he yelled, "Stop it! There are people here for you too!" I looked back down. How could he still care? How could any of them still care?

"Stop looking away from me!" Iggy shouted, grabbing my face roughly. With luck, he would crush my windpipe. "I still love you! How can you look at me like that?!"

I had a deathly blank look on my face.

He sat down next to me on the ground. I sneaked a peek at the nightshade plant. Maybe I could get it back.

"Kari," he sighed, ruffling my hair playfully like he used to, "I wish you could tell me what's wrong."

He wouldn't want to know.

"Wait," he said, "I can see what's wrong."

My eyes widened. He wouldn't.

"I can help you Kari," he said, stroking my face, "I'm going to help you."

I jerked away. He would not see this. He would not! I jumped to my feet and ran.

He tackled me from behind. I was so weak, my head was spinning. It was probably myself and the fact that I was suffering from malnutrition.

"Kari," he pleaded, "I hate this. Let me help. I'll do anything to make you stop suffering." I stopped squirming underneath him and froze. Aero. Those were the last words Aero said to me.

I started sobbing silently.

"Please Kari," Iggy said, "Let me help you."

I blinked at him and raised my head, shaking a 'no'.

"Kari, please. Why won't you let me help you?" Iggy whispered.

No. Iggy. You're not Aero. You're not my Flock. Why should you care? Do you want to hurt too? Do you want to die? I don't want you to die. I want you to forget I ever existed. I want you to get on with your life and be happy.

I reluctantly raised my head to him farther, looking into his eyes. I was getting good at reading people, because I was such a non-emotional myself, it seemed that it was easier to see the truth in their eyes. Iggy's eyes were desperate.

His eyes were desperate. He wanted the old Kari back. She would never come back. His eyes were sad. He hated seeing me like this. His eyes showed love and respect for me. And they also showed anger. An anger because I won't let anyone help me. Anger because I was giving up. Anger for himself, that he couldn't get through to me.

He looked deep into my emotionless eyes. I didn't have a choice. The white light came for me, and folded me in its soft embrace. Release. For now.

Iggy didn't stay for long in my memory. He watched that specific memory. The one I screamed about. The one I bled for. He went back into his body and took me into his arms.

He was me in the memory; he felt my pain. For a while he said, "I'm so sorry," over and over. But then he cried. The strong one cried.

That broke my silence.

"Be strong for us," I said, my voice rusty and cracking from disuse. I held his head and cried with him.

Then I kissed him. For the first time, I felt whole. I wasn't alone. I mixed my tears with his, smearing them along our faces. I would no longer have to suffer alone. There were people who cared. My Flock would've wanted me to be happy. This Flock wanted me to be happy.

"I'm glad I have you Iggy," I rasped.

"You bet you do," Iggy laughed, crying now from gladness, something I never would have thought possible, "Let's go announce your return to the present."


	70. Chapter 65

Chapter 65

I ran to Max and hugged her, "I'm so sorry. Thank you for your friendship."

I hugged Fang. He actually hugged me too. "Welcome back."

I hugged Angel and Gazzy at once, then Nudge ("Yeah! You're back! I'm so glad that you're back! You looked like a zombie and you were crying and oh my god you're squishing me to death!").

And then I hugged Iggy. He dug his hands into my thin back, burying his face in my limp hair. "I love you," I whispered.

"Ditto," he smiled.

"So Kari, someone came to us while you were gone. She said we could find her," Max said.

"Robyn?" I breathed.

She nodded and I felt my face light up. Okay, so I was her best friend, and I killed her. And now she was some cybertronic, undead, shape-shifting person. I could find her again!

"Where is she?" I asked excitedly.

"I have no idea," she said.

My body drooped, "Dang it all."

"But she said for us to meet her at the place where you told her," Max repeated.

"Oh," I said, "That's perfect. She was always good at codes and the codex."

"So Kari," Fang said, "Where is this coded spot?"

I beamed, "Black Mesa, Oklahoma."

I lifted my wings and looked at the bedraggled feathers. They looked dead, limp. It had been forever since I had flown, and I felt like an invalid. On second thought, I felt like a recently released patient. I looked at my hand and saw the bones poking through the skin. Damn. WHAT did I do to myself?

I walked over to Iggy and hugged him, clinging to his body. I wouldn't part with him again. Never.

He ruffled my hair, "Ready to go?"

"Sorta," I said, cracking a small smile. I was better. Much better than I had been before. But not the same. I had my memories back now. I no longer felt like I had an ache in my head. Yay.

I couldn't forget my Flock. I would avenge them. I would do something good for the world, instead of destroying it.

And what about the machinery in my spine?

"Iggy? Could you look at something for me?" I said, lifting my shirt up a bit.

He flushed, "Yeah."

I turned around and asked, "Is there anything there?" I felt his long fingers probe my skin and shivered.

"Just a freckle," he said, poking it. I groaned, twitching. It was sensitive. VERY sensitive. It was painful and ticklish (among other things) at the same time.

Iggy's hands traced up my back to my open wings and tickled the place where they joined to my shoulders. "D-don't do that," I shuddered.

"Do what?" he asked, massaging the joint.

I moaned. This time, it felt GOOD. God. "S-stop Iggy," I said, involuntarily tightening my shoulders so he could reach more feathery-soft skin, "It's sensitive."

"So I hear," he said, a smile in his voice. He fingered my poor feathers, "Kari, you need to eat."

My stomach grumbled right on cue. He chuckled, "We're almost ready to go anyway. We'll eat before then."

He was right. We stopped at a McDonald's, where I ordered a heck of a lot of fattening food, tearing through the wrappers and sinking my teeth into the steaming goodness.

I ate like a starving animal, wiping grease from my mouth as people just watched me stuff food in. The Flock was watching me too. What? Well, I think last week the only thing I ate was a granola bar on a whim, so I had a right to be hungry.

When I was finally done, I felt better. Much better, and definitely stronger. I could lift a truck.

"Are we ready to go?" I asked as we filed out.

"If you can lift off the ground," Iggy teased. I punched his arm.

"U and A guys," Max said as we fluttered our wings and took off.

We landed on the ledge to the cave I directed them to, stretching our sore wing joints. 5 hours flying can be a killer to the shoulders. "Wait here," I said, "I'll make sure it's really Robyn. I want to talk to her first."

I stepped into the cave, "Hello?"

"Kari!" I heard before a flurry of feathers tackled me, "I thought I would never see you again!"

I gave a choked laugh, "You probably wouldn't have." I felt the tears welling up and snorted them down. No more crying. Enough crying over the past.

I stroked her hair and hugged her, "I'm glad I got to see you again though."

She pulled away, "Kari! I am so happy!"

"Me too," I said, letting a tear slip down my cheek, "Oh, hi guys." Robyn turned around, gasped, and bowed.

"I am sorry for before," she said, bowing again.

"No prob," Max replied, "Let's start over. How's tricks since we parted ways?"

"Moderately normal, thank you," she said, "But I contacted you for a reason. I know where Derrick is."


	71. Chapter 66 Part 1

Chapter 66 Part 1

"Do you now?" I asked, "That's interesting."

"Kari," Robyn said, "I never would have thought that you would abandon your brother."

"He's a psycho," Fang stated, "I can't tell whether he's on their side or our side."

"Good point," Max grumbled. She had a grudge against him since, well, he basically tongue-molested her. Poor girl. But Robyn had it worse.

"Well, where is he?" Nudge piped up angrily, "Because I'm NOT going on a rescue mission for that dork."

"Ditto," Gazzy chimed in, looking sideways at Angel. Derrick had previously threatened his sister. It seemed like he had done everyone a personal wrong. EVERYONE.

"Right," Max and Fang chorused.

"Ditto," Angel repeated.

Then there was complete silence.

"Does anyone want to rescue Derrick?" I asked tiredly, holding my head.

Awkward coughing.

"Well, Robyn, where is my brother?" I asked.

"He is somewhere in the Canadian wilderness," she said, "I am not really sure where."

"We can make our way up to Canada," Max sighed, "Anyone else got any errands or things to cover?"

Robyn fiddled with her fingers.

"Yes?" Max asked.

"There is a slight problem," Robyn sputtered, "I am being once again tracked; I do not know how. And . . . Kari . . ."

"What is it?" I asked fearfully. There was a tone to her voice that freaked me out.

"They have also made the rest of your Flock – anew," she said as I fainted dead away.


	72. Chapter 66 Part 2

Chapter 66 Part Two

Something freezing was touching my forehead. "Wake up, wake up," I heard Robyn muttering over me.

I jolted awake, gasping, "Oh my god!" almost fainting away again as everything came back to me.

"No way, Jose," Robyn said again, smacking my face.

"Ow, mother -!" I yelled, clutching my cheek. I was now completely awake. I had forgotten Robyn's death slaps. Between her long fingers and her nails! Damn, they were lethal.

"You have been out for forever," Robyn fumed, "Those people you hang out with, they do not trust me, and they left me to watch you while they went off to get food. Do you know how much you drool when you are asleep?"

I flushed, embarrassed.

"Gazzy and Iggy went to go design some bomb though," Robyn said, "I am so sorry; I went to go to the bathroom when they did this to you." She held up a pocket mirror to my face.

Iggy had written in permanent marker across my lips, 'Property of Iggy – Do not kiss.' And Gazzy had drawn fake earrings all over my ears and colored in my eyebrows with blue.

"IGGY! GAZZY!" I roared, "YOU'RE SO FREAKING DEAD!" Robyn giggled.

"The last time I had seen you so angry was when Falon and Phantom wrote 'This belongs to Aero' across your clothing, even on your under drawers!" Robyn laughed. I chuckled at the fond memory.

"And now I can see them again," I sighed, nervous and ecstatic at the same time, "But not like this."

"I will help you," Robyn said, taking a bottle of water and a T-shirt and scrubbing my face with it. She looked really delicate, but man, she could be so abrasive! Like now. I felt like my face had been scrubbed raw and touched the tender pink flesh carefully.

Robyn gave a snort at my expression and held up the mirror again, "I managed to get off those horridly drawn eyebrows, but the earrings and writing might take several days to completely fade. Sorry, but I did my best."

"Thanks," I said, "Where did Iggy and Gazzy go? I'm going to massacre them."

"They will be back soon," Robyn said, "Because here come Max and crew."

The aroma of grease-soaked burgers and spicy burritos filled my nostrils. Food.

"Max," I said, taking her aside, "Please be nice to Robyn, she means well." She gave me a half-hearted grimace.

"And what would you recommend as death to Iggy and Gazzy?" I asked.

She smirked, "What did they do to you?"

"You can't see? Oh, wait, the light. Come here," I said, dragging her into the light of the setting sun to look at me.

She burst out laughing, "Oh my god!" She sobered up quick, "But seriously, they shredded some of my pants once. They were dead. And I can come up with great plans."

And so we brainstormed.


	73. Chapter 67

Chapter 67

"Iggy," I said, trying to act seductive, "Come here." I curled my finger in his direction.

"What?" he asked.

"Come here," I repeated, disappearing behind a bend in the dirt tracks in the forest. He followed, of course.

I pinned him against a tree, my knee pressed against his unmentionables. "You're in trouble," I hissed.

He kissed my cheek, "Hey, but you're mine."

"Oho, wise deduction," I snarled, "Did I do this to YOUR face?"

He gave an awkward cough and sheepishly grinned, "Okay, okay, I couldn't resist! Sorry already! Now please don't hurt me?" His face up close, wow. But I would get him.

"Now Max!" I shouted. She popped out from behind the trunk and grabbed his arms.

"Hey!" he shouted.

"Dear, dear Iggy," I said, twirling a lock of hair, "You don't do something to me unless you want to get in trouble." I took out the can of purple spray paint from my jacket pocket and shook it.

"Kari," Iggy hissed in a warning tone.

"Lest I say it again, you totally deserve it," I said as I stretched out one of his wings and began spraying.

"Agreed," Max said, smiling evilly, "I still haven't got you for the shredding of my jeans."

When we let him go, he was pissed. Beyond pissed. Then we were after the Gasman. We scribbled on his face when he was napping. I guess playing pranks tired him out. Ha.

"Nice Barney wings Ig," Fang hooted, "Just dye your hair green!"

"Shut up, man!" Iggy shouted, still angry. He'd get over it.

He still wasn't talking to me the next day.

And the next.

But really, I was preoccupied with other stuff. Like what was going to happen when I finally faced my dead Flock again. Would they be mad, like Robyn? Would they be in control of the school? I guess my brooding got to the Flock.

Max pulled me away from the rest the Flock and ran a hand through her hair. "I don't know what to do about your friend Kari," she sighed, putting on one of her many frustrated looks, "Or any others that are coming along."

I looked at her, beyond puzzled. Huh? What was she asking of me?

"What I mean is, what are you going to do?" she asked, "When you get them back, are you going to stay with them or us?"

Crap. I hadn't thought about that. I gulped down a hiss of annoyance at my own stupidity and mumbled, "I don't know."

"Well, you're going to have to figure out whose side you're on," Max announced, "Because no offense, we can't have a huge group of conflicting avian mutants trying to save the day, especially if they've become resurrected zombies and are designed to destroy the planet. Robyn's nice and all, but what if your Flock isn't the Flock you once knew?"

She walked away to get some granola from her backpack for Nudge as I slumped to the ground.

That was it. What IF my Flock wasn't the people I loved?


	74. Chapter 68

Chapter 68

"So what is the deal with you and the blond kid?" Robyn asked, curious.

"I thought you knew," I said sheepishly, "Iggy's my boyfriend."

"But what about Aero?" she asked angrily, "You kill him, forget him, and get a new man? What are you?"

"Robyn," I pleaded, "I didn't know."

"What are you going to do when he comes back?" she asked fretfully, "Choose Aero or this new guy?"

"I don't know," I burst out, "I won't know what to do until I get there!" Everyone was putting so much pressure on me. I felt like a bird-kid Atlas, the weight of the world on my shoulders.

"I need to go," I muttered, putting in a hard downsweep so I blasted up a couple meters.

"Kari," Robyn muttered exasperatedly as I took off, "None of us have any idea what to do. You're not the only one."

I sat on a branch in the top of an old pine tree for a while, trying to calm myself down. Ever since I saw what I did to my Flock (insert shudder) I was on a short fuse. Ha, short fuse, that was a good one.

So . . . I wasn't completely healed. Would I ever be? I rubbed the back of my hand anxiously and sighed. What was I going to do with myself? I had to get Derrick. I couldn't abandon him. But I did. And just because I was weak. Weak, weak, weak.

I shook my head. Let's just see how weak we are. I screamed a tree clean in half, the middle smoking. I punched a half-foot-thick branch clean off the tree. I kicked a heavy rock a dozen yards. I sat down again. I wasn't weak. I was demented in the mind. I couldn't fix this unless I could see my Flock again.

Flapping overhead. "Iggy," I stated, "Yes?"

"Dinner's ready," he grumbled.

"Lovely," I sneered.

He glared.

"You can't take a joke," I spat out, circling him, "Oh, yes, it's all fun and games until you get pissed."

He glared again.

"Oh, the scary face," I laughed, "Sure to frighten everyone."

Then I got zapped inside him again. I forced him out, quickly. I was getting better.

"You think you can solve everything by just seeing?" I asked, "Oh no, you have to figure it out on your own."

I blew him an air kiss, "You're not my problem at the moment. I have other things to worry about at the moment. If you can't figure out that I just got you back, then screw you."

He held his temper.

"You can't even figure out that the spray-paint washes off with water," I scoffed, "How would you know what was going on?" I leaped off the branch and soared out into the air, already tearing up. Why did I say that to him? What was the matter with me?

I landed back at camp. "Robyn," I hissed, pulling her behind a tree.

She gave a short yelp before I covered her mouth.

"Listen," I said, "I'm going to Canada, and you're coming with me."

She mumbled something into my hand. Whoops. I let go.

"Kari, are you mad? You cannot go on an adventure with just two people! What have you been taught?" She hissed.

"I've taught MYSELF not to endanger other people," I replied, "Besides, with me and you, we'll be freaking unstoppable!"

"You are crazy," she said, pushing my hand off her shoulder, "What would the Flock say?"

"The question is: what WILL the Flock say?" I stated.

She bit her lip. I knew she was as anxious to see them as much as me.

"C'mon Robyn," I pleaded cajolingly, "I can't do this without my BFF."

She let out a hissy stream of air, "You do not even have a plan."

"Fly to Canada, run into Flock, hugs and kissys all around, rescue Derrick, kill Jakob," I said, ticking them off, "Kari's Five-Part plan."

"Because we all know it is hard to argue with that sort of logic," she muttered. I grinned.

"PLEASE Robyn?" I wheedled, "I want to see my Flock again. PLEASE?"

"I do not like it at all," she said, "But you need to apologize to your Flock. I know where they are now. We can find them."

I slapped her on the back, "That's my girl. Let's pack."

She snorted, "Pack what?"

"Well –,"


	75. Chapter 69

Chapter 69

I giggled as I walked out of the bank with Robyn, "Too easy."

"Kari, what are you doing?"Max said, clearly pissed. The entire Flock was behind her, toes tapping.

"We're, um, extracting money to, uh, feed the homeless!" I said cheerily. I heard Robyn palm her forehead.

"And you're the homeless," she scoffed, "Nice one."

"Look Max," I said, "We're going to find Derrick. None of you like him at all, so what's the point of you coming?"

She paused.

"Because we're FRIENDS, Kari," Iggy said softly, stepping out of the back, "We want to help." He folded me into his arms in a hug. Clearly he was testing my limits, seeing if I might bite his neck in anger or something.

I sighed. I wouldn't forgive him yet.

"So are you coming or not?" he asked the Flock. Max ran a hand through her hair in frustration, but then gave a half-smile.

"What the heck," she said, "We have nothing else to do." We took off, startling an actual homeless person. I dropped a 20. That should hold him. For a while, if he used it wisely.

"See," Robyn hissed in my ear, "I told you Kari, I told you that this was a waste of time. You never should have tried this."

"Nag, nag, nag," I said, punching her lightly in the shoulder to show her I was kidding.

She fake-pouted. Then a grocery cart flew through the air and attached itself to her. She fell to the ground.

"Damn, what the hell was that?" she asked, trying to push the cart off her. I smiled. Robyn barely ever swore. With her accent, it was downright funny. Don't tell her I said that.

"Your power's kicking in," I said nudging her leg, "You're now magnetic."

"Oh, fun," she said sarcastically.

"Repel it," Fang said, "You're not going anywhere with an Albertson's cart on your butt." I bit the inside of my cheek to not laugh. Robyn looked pissed.

She repelled it alright. Right onto his body. He fell back, wincing. He cursed as Robyn glared daggers at him. Uh-oh. This could be bad. Feuding! BAD!

"Hey, hey, guys," I said, putting myself between them, "C'mon, let's hit the sky again."

Robyn turned away, muttering to herself. Ah, this was familiar. I took put my hands on her shoulders and poked her neck. "Really Robyn, remember Phantom?" She gave a sniffling chuckle.

I watched the tears spot the cement. "Robyn," I said feverently, "C'mon buddy, buck up."

"I - I can't," she sobbed, "I do not belong here. I want my Flock back." I let her cry into my shoulder.

"It's okay Robyn," I said, "We'll find them."

"Maybe I would be better off doing what I should be doing," she sniffled, "Pushing up pansies in some landfill deposit."

I 'shh'ed her, "No, no Robyn, I'm happy you're here. I'm glad you're here. Otherwise I'd have to live (or not) with all that remorse."

She snorted, wiping her eyes. "Yes," she said, eyes sparkling still, "But you owe me."

I laughed, hugging her, and threw her into the sky, following someone I could count on.


	76. Chapter 70

Chapter 70

"I'm not going to crack," I grumbled.

"Kari, for goodness' sake, he has been bringing you flowers from the fields every morning," Robyn fumed, "Why do you have to be so stubborn? He loves you, you know."

"I know," I sighed. The truth was that I was TRYING WITHOUT SUCCESS not to crack.

"I would kill, or in my case, die again for that kind of love," Robyn grouched, "You have it so easy. All the guys LOVE you."

I fell silent. I had never talked about love lives with Robyn before. Now I guess I knew. She was kinda jealous that I had a guy, and she still didn't.

"You're prettier than me," I said, "Tell you what, if Aero's not the guy I wanna be with, you can have him." She blushed, swooping away to hang with Nudge. I knew it! She did like Aero! Let's just hope Aero's not hung up on me or bent on evil . . .

Fang silently tilted closer to me. What did he want?

"Be nice to Iggy," he murmured, "Or Max'll kick your butt. Just a warning."

"Tell Max to tell Iggy to keep his whining to himself," I spat. He smirked. "Messenger boy," I hissed as he went to tell Max. What was this? It was too weird to not be fighting Erasers and to be squabbling over our social and love lives. I could almost wish for an attack.

Erasers, calling Erasers. Just kidding. That would suck.

'So what now?' I asked myself, 'What should I do?'

_Talk to Iggy._

'Hey, you're alive! I missed me!'

_Of course, I'm alive you nitwit! I'm you. Are you dead? I thought not._

'Do I have to go talk to Iggy?' I asked.

Silence. Guess her phone-time was up. Okay. Talking to Iggy, here I go!

I flew up next to him. "Hey," I said softly.

"Hey," he said, his eyebrows raised, apparently amazed I was talking to him.

"I-I'm sorry," I said, "I'm too wired right now to be rational."

"I'm sorry too. All those times you took my jokes, now I'm taking yours," he admitted, "It was mostly my fault."

"Give the man a prize," I said, holding out my hand, which was the closest I could get to him. He squeezed it.

"Just try and calm down," he said, "We all know you've got crap to deal with. Try meditation." He grinned.

"I have neither the time nor the patience for meditation," I stated.

"Of course you don't," he said, "Hey, what the -!" A shadow overtook him from the ground, throwing him into the blue.

"Oh my god!" I screamed as Iggy fluttered down past me. I grabbed a hold of his leg. His face was covered in blood. "What the hell was that?"

Guess. Go ahead, guess.

. . .

If you guessed it was an Eraser, nice try. It was one of my Flock. Phantom. I gasped, hitting the ground with Iggy.

"Phantom!" I called out, "Phantom!" Phantom turned.

"Kari?" he asked tenatively.

"Phantom," I said, overjoyed, racing forward to hug him. He disappeared.

"Aw c'mon Phantom," I complained, "Lemme hug you!" I dove in midair to where I thought he was, and sure enough . . .

"Dude, what the frick is your problem?" Iggy asked angrily, trying to staunch a gash on his forehead.

Phantom reappeared, "Thought he was an Eraser."

"Uh-huh," Max said, unconvinced, "How can Erasers be BLOND?"

"Can't see well," Phantom grunted, "Not my problem." Max glared at him and went to go help Fang bandage Iggy's gash. It really wasn't that deep, but you know, head wounds and all that . . .

"I'm so glad to see you!" I said, squeezing the life out of him. He disappeared again.

I sighed, then realized something. "Hey, Phantom, where's the rest of the Flock?"

"We're right here," Aero said, stepping out of the trees. The others followed.

Then –

. . .

He kissed me full on the mouth.


	77. Chapter 71

Chapter 71

I broke away quickly, my face bright red.

"Aero!" I yelled, "What the hell was that?"

He cracked a smile, "Not happy to see me, Kari?"

I risked a glance at The Flock, and moreover, Iggy. They were gaping. Did I ever tell them about Aero? Did I tell them what I did to them? Whoops. Iggy glared as soon as my gaze switched over to him and I winced.

"Uh, Max, Fang, Iggy, Gazzy, Nudge, and Angel, meet Aero, Clowd, Falon, and Phantom," I said weakly, trying to bridge some sort of chasm I couldn't see.

"You have pretty wings," Nudge said to Falon, breaking the ice between the glaring birdkids. Geez, I love that girl.

"Thanks a lot; your hair is amazing," Falon replied, smiling. I glanced over my Flock, taking in their appearances. They sure looked spiffier than I did, I can just say that now. Were they evil? I couldn't tell.

I stepped up to Iggy and took out a spare shirt, dabbing at his forehead.

"Let me do it," he growled, swiping the shirt from my hand and dabbing it.

"Iggy, no, it wasn't my fault," I pleaded, as he backed away.

"Then whose fault was it?" he said coolly, "Cupid?" He walked over to merge with Max and Fang, who were having a powwow.

Aero put a hand over my shoulder and I shuddered. I didn't want to be touched at ALL at the moment.

"Erasers! 5 o' clock!" I heard Fang yell before he got punched in the stomach.

Hey, so maybe my Eraser call worked after all.

I launched myself into a roundhouse, cracking the ribs of an Eraser, making him wheeze blood all over me. Then I did a backhand spring and caught another Eraser in the jaw. I punched in his teeth, which shattered, and then jabbed my elbow right over his kidney. This was too easy. Like – oh god. It was a setup. Wasn't it?

Where was my Flock? Laughing at us from the trees? Or fighting Max's Flock? A chill crept down my spine at the thought.

"Kari!" I heard Aero yell. I punched another nose in, the blood spurting out like a bad movie, and looked for him.

He was being dragged away by four Erasers. I smirked, kicking another Eraser in the gut. They wouldn't die! I swear that a neon lightbulb went on over my head. They were as undead as Robyn. They couldn't be killed unless someone got them good.

A couple of them were clawing their way towards the Flock, Max kicking them joyfully.

Okay, so some of them were dead, but most of them were gone. I realized that none of my Flock was here. Oh crap. I raced off after Aero.

They were stuffing him and the others into sacks in the back of a humvee. I grimaced. The undead Erasers turned towards me curiously, grinning when they saw I was the only one. Big mistake.

I screamed enough to create a huge fireball over my head, and then threw it at the Erasers. They immediately turned to dust. I waded through the Eraser ash (ick) and opened the first bag I could reach.

Robyn's head popped out, and her arm grabbed me around the neck. "Someone here is a fake," she whispered, "It's one of the Flock. This was planned."

She hopped out of the sack like the moment before she hadn't been whispering conspiracy theories in my ear, and began to undo the rest of the bags.

"Kari," Aero said, happily as he tumbled out, "I thought they got you."

"Uh, no," I said, "Why would they?"

"Kari," he murmured soothingly, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. I couldn't help it. I blushed. He crushed me to him, and put his mouth squarely over mine, kissing roughly. I sighed into him. I'm no skank or anything, but Aero was so . . . so familiar. It reminded me of what used to be, and it made me crave more. I eagerly kissed back, looping my hands around his neck.

My brain was starting to go hazy from the pleasure when I got an unfortunate wake-up call.

_Kari! No! Goddammit, look!_

I cracked open an eyes lazily, seeing Max's Flock gaping at me again. I immediately froze. Iggy was shaking angrily from head to toe, his mouth open.

Oh s***.


	78. Chapter 72

Chapter 72

"Iggy!" I cried out, breaking fully away from Aero. He grabbed my wrist.

"Who's it going to be Kari?" he asked, simmering quietly from anger and lust, "Me or him?"

I yanked him off. "Why are all guys so damn stupid?" I yelled, taking a running start into the sky. They had immediately done a U and A. Crap, crap, crap! I had to look for Iggy. I had to look for Max, and Fang.

I searched the sky for hours, and the ground from the sky. I couldn't find them. They must've left me. They knew my place was with my Flock, and I guess, so did I.

I wheeled around, tipping a wing, choking back sobs that wanted to erupt from my chest. I'm sorry, Iggy. I'm so sorry.

I landed silently next to Aero, who took it as a sign to leave me alone (duh) and folded in my wings.

"We'll take the new wheels," Falon said, holding up the keys, "Kari drives." She tossed me the keys. I caught them.

We hopped into the car, which was nicely roomy. I gunned the engine and backed into a tree. Everyone winced.

"Sorry guys," I said, throwing the car into 'drive'. I wasn't going to think about THEM. THEY didn't need me. I didn't need THEM. We were better off without each other. So there.

"So, Kari, what'd you do when we were gone?" Falon said with a straight face. I gave an internal wince. I would never get over it.

"Not much," I teased, "The regular: getting beat up by Erasers, almost dying, you know."

"Well you got a new power," Phantom pointed out, "I wouldn't call that nothing." He leaned back into his seat, a smug grin on his face.

"And tell us about that other Flock," Aero said, "What are their powers? Do you know where they're going?"

"Uh, why do you want to know anyway?" Robyn snorted, "Not a spy, are you Aero?" He twisted around in his seat (he was shotgun) and glared at her.

"I could say the same to you Robyn," he said. She gave him the finger.

"Hey, hey, not in front of the little kid!" Falon complained, holding her hands over Clowd's eyes. He grinned and poured a sheet of water over Falon's head. She sputtered, wiping rain out of her eyes.

I couldn't help smiling. It was like old times, though it would never be.

Well I'm not going to bore you with my driving accidents and expertise, so I'll skip ahead to the part where we broke into an old warehouse. It was outside of Dodge City. It used to be a grain factory or something. Something with wheat or corn.

We crunched across the dead grain, looking around the huge plant. They'd done a pretty good job in letting it fall down. An entire half wall was caved in, and there were plants growing through the concrete floors. A conveyor belt stretched across the area.

Falon sneezed as dust came wafting up. This whole place was no place to spend a night, but hey, it was paradise to us. We found a room that probably would've been the manager's room. The window was broken and there were the rotting remnants of a desk, but it was pretty homey, for the time being that is.

"I'm hungry," Clowd complained. I tossed him a rations pack from the humvee.

"Eat," I growled, rubbing my eyes. I wasn't usually so short with my Flock, but damn, they were pissing me off! First with the complaints, about how the concrete was too hard, and how the food tasted like crap, and how this totally blew that they didn't get a chance to meet the Flock. I mean, c'mon! What was this? A sleepover? Where had they been living the past few months?

"Kari," Aero said, massaging the place between my wings, "Wanna take a walk?"


	79. Chapter 73

Chapter 73

We crunched across the gravel lot noisily, both watching warily for a sign of an Eraser attack. I rubbed my temples. My head was freaking killing me.

"Look, Kari, I'm sorry that we weren't there for you," he said abruptly, taking my hand almost sincerely, "I had no idea that you had to hang with those weirdos to survive. If I had known, I would've looked ten times harder."

"Yeah, what freaks," I said hollowly. My freaks. My other family. But this was MY family, and I needed to take care of them. The maternal instinct kicked in a lot for us girl leaders, I guess.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Aero asked.

I snorted, "You sound like my mother." Yeah, except I never had a mother. Just a brother. And I needed to find him.

We started up again, hiking out over the wasteland, silent, that was surrounding the plant. It looked like a freaking NUKE got dropped on the area, sincerely. Aero kept on giving me these glances, like he was concerned or something.

I wasn't really paying attention when Aero just randomly stopped at a spot and sat down, looking up expectantly. I was thinking of Max's Flock. What were they doing right now? What was Iggy doing right now? But back on to what was happening between Aero and me. I surveyed the area, critical. Oh, you're probably expecting me to blab on and on about how he brought me to this 'secret wonderland' and oh my god, it was SO romantic. Pfft. Nuh-uh.

He cleared some trash around the area, like a gentleman. I reluctantly sat down, kicking away a broken beer bottle.

"Kari, I've missed you," he said, unfolding his wings a bit to get the blood flowing better.

"I've . . . missed you too," I replied awkwardly. I mean, hello, I had no idea who was the bad guy in my Flock, whether anyone was holding a grudge, and then there was that whole, you know, massacring them thing . . .

"God, Kari, you have no idea how much I missed you," he sighed, "I missed your voice, your laugh, your smile, your eyes . . ."

"Well . . .," I started. To tell the truth, I totally didn't miss him at all because of my memory being wiped. And I had Iggy for me. I felt my heart give an unsettling lurch at the thought of his easy smile and weird comments.

"Did you hang out with that loser Flock just to survive?" he asked, laughing.

My eyes tightened subtely.

"That leader of theirs looks like she got knocked up one time too many by that emo kid she keeps on oogling," Aero said nastily, as though that would make me feel any better about the situation.

I bit my cheek. Easy Kari, just block him out.

"And that little girl is just FREAKY," he said, almost conversationally, like we were talking about the weather or something, "That dog looks like something you drag out from a vaccuum cleaner."

Angel was not . . . very . . . weird!

"The littler boy sinks like a sewer, and the black girl never shuts up!" he said, "I mean, jeez, talk about a mouthy brat!"

Please, dear god, do NOT let him start spewing ethic crap!

"And then there's that blond kid," he growled, "Why were you even with an idiot like that?"

I winced. Iggy.

"What a pathetic group of hybrids," he scoffed.

"I'm sorry Aero, there was only the slight problem of me getting my memory wiped," I replied, heavy on the sarcasm.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he said, brushing off my excuse.

"What a pretty moon," I said, trying to get him distracted now. I didn't want to hear anymore about the Flock, no more bad-mouthing.

"Yeah," he said, putting his arm around my waist. I sighed, leaning into his chest. I felt like a traitor. I wanted to be a one woman show, not two. I clamped down the feeling. I would never see the Flock again. Put on a brave face and SUCK IT UP.

Aero started idly playing with my fiery hair, kissing my neck. I shivered.

"Kari," he said in the same husky tone he had used so much when he wanted to say something sweet to me. He turned my chin, kissing my jaw. I felt his wings sweep my back, surrounding us in a feathery prison.

His mouth met mine, sweet and gentle. Just like our first kiss. It kinda was, like, our first kiss again.

His lips turned harder, more insistent, like he couldn't get enough of me. I linked my arms around his neck and felt his smile curve beneath my mouth.

I was getting really distracted, when I should've totally been on my guard. I should've noticed the hard wiring in Aero's neck, the ONE hand resting on my waist.

I jumped as something sharp dug into my shoulder. Glass? I don't think so.

Aero shoved me backwards, a syringe in his hand.

My mouth opened in a silent scream. Oh crap. He had injected the nanobytes in me.


	80. Chapter 74

Chapter 74

"Gotten pretty desperate, haven't you, b****?" he snarled, his eyes hard, "Didn't you know you're not supposed to sleep with the enemy?"

My scream actually had substance now. I couldn't hide it. I was terrified.

"Shut up," he growled, kicking my feet out from beneath me. I landed hard on the ground, my breath whooshing out of me. I felt the burning edge of glass cut into the back of my thigh, but only a bit. I was kinda concentrating on the foot that hovered over my face.

"Hmm, face first, or the vital organs?" he debated, "I never really liked your face anyway." The heel of his combat boot made contact with my nose, and it cracked, spewing blood everywhere.

That bastard had broken my nose!

I coughed, spitting out blood from my mouth, and kicked the back of his knee, snapping a tendon. He went down, biting his lip in agony.

I jumped up, hissing at the pain in my leg, and took a defensive posture.

"So are you another one that can't be killed?" I asked warily, as he got to his feet.

"That's right," he smiled.

"So how long have you been marinating in the scientists' tanks?" I muttered, "Since I killed you?"

"Since you killed me," he said, cheerful, "But what I said to you earlier, that day, I didn't mean. I never loved you."

"Well that's a load off," I said, pretending to wipe my forehead in relief, "But tell me, who were you with then? Jakob? Was the Eraser doing you, you gaywad?"

A snarl, then a jab to my kidney.

"Verbal defenses are all you have left," Not-Aero said, "You're weak."

"And that makes you, what? Weaker than me?" I asked.

"At the moment, the rest of the Flock is annihilating Robyn," Not-Aero said coolly, "She was the glitch in the system."

I cast a worried glance to the factory, and saw an unbroken window shatter. Robyn!

Not-Aero gave me a hard kick to the knee, and I felt the plate snap. I fell, choking down an agonized scream.

The swelling was already starting, and I struggled to limp back up. No way would I lose to this person. This THING.

A high-pitched scream pierced my ears. Robyn! I had to get to her!

I thought hard, imagining ropes of fire around the Aero imposter. When I looked back up, the fire ropes were around a rock. I cursed. Damn Aero's substitution abilities.

"Behind you," he hissed, chopping the back of my neck, hard. I stumbled, my vision going black for a second. My knee was on fire.

"You are a failure," Not-Aero said, kicking my feet out from under me again. I landed on my broken knee and screamed. He kicked me in the ribs, and a rib cracked. I coughed out a mouthful of blood.

"All this time, you've had a tracker on you," Aero scoffed, "All this time, we were listening in on everything you said, everything you felt. And you didn't even notice. We are superior to you. And once you're on our side, we can get on to what we're designed to do." His eyes narrowed to unfamiliar slits. "We're going to destroy this world."

"Enough with the super-villian monologue," I coughed, slowly getting up, "I don't want to hear any of your crap. Because I don't know you. I don't even want to be with you anymore, because you're not my Flock. You're a fake."

"You're not my Aero!" I screamed loudly, "And no one is ever going to control me!" I didn't really see the wave of fire aimed at him, like a blanket. I only saw the horrified look on his face as the wave crashed over him, burning off his features and everything else. Feathers exploded everywhere, some charred, some fine. A smoking pair of legs from the knees down fell over.

I then promptly heaved my guts out, vomiting 'til there was only a sour taste in my mouth from the acid. I was in trouble. The nanobytes were in me. The Flock was evil. I was hurt. And Robyn-!

I limped as fast as I could over the barren landscape, humming loudly. The pain was already going away, but still . . .

I ran into the empty area, where the conveyor belts were thrown around the room like some giant was playing with them and just left them strewn about. I winced as I saw the impaled bodies of Phantom and Falon. Damn, they hadn't lasted long. The wiring was ripped out of their necks like tissue paper. Robyn must've gotten them with her new metal powers.

I heard a groan and raced behind some crushed machinery. Robyn lay there, her shirt caked in blood. Clowd's body lay next to her, white and still.

"I . . . I killed him . . ." Robyn said shakily, "I think . . ."

"Robyn, Robyn, it's okay," I said, "It's going to be all right."

She looked down at her shirt, "This blood is mine. I am dying."

"How?" I gasped, "Lemme heal you!"

"Lightning bolt," she said, smiling wryly, "Clowd was great, even evil. And no Kari, leave me. I want to die."

"No freaking way are you dying on my watch!" I yelled, wincing as something at the other end of the plastics factory exploded.

Robyn took my wrists, looking me carefully in the eyes, "Please, Kari. I want to die. This is my wish. Please respect my opinion on this matter. I am not real. I am not Robyn. This brain is mine. That is all. And I want to be with the others. I will watch over you."

"No, Robyn!" I protested, "I'm not going to watch you die! I'm going to be selfish! Live, please, for me!" I could feel the tears brimming up.

"No," she said firmly. She uncurled one of my fists and unclipped her favorite necklace from her belt loop, piling it in my palm. "For you," she said simply, "I will always be with you in spirit, Kari, count on it."

Robyn wiped one of my tears away, smiling, "You are such a crybaby."

Then she laid down, closing her eyes, and died.

I screamed. My Flock had died for the second time over. The ceiling, or what was left of it, crumbled into ashy flames.

I think I fainted. I dunno. I just remembered plucking a feather from each of the Flock, laying them next to each other (or what was left of them), and setting their bodies alight in a funeral pyre.

I took Robyn's necklace and put it around my neck. I placed the feathers in my hair, feeling like a Native American princess as I did so. The flames danced in my eyes.

I was going to keep living. For Derrick. For my Flock. And I wouldn't give up, not this easily.

I soared out of the factory, into the inky blackness of the sky; I was going to get the people that did this to my Flock.

A single red feather waved, upright, from a pile of ashes.


	81. Chapter 75

Chapter 75

Where to go? Where the heck should I go now? Now that my Flock was . . . you know, what to do? I suppose I could go crawling back to the Flock. And get my butt totally kicked by Iggy. God, why did I have to crush his heart like that? I'm such a horrible person.

But to let him and Max's Flock go, and then let my own Flock go, it, well, it just hurt. It felt like a vice around my heart. But let's get our priorites straight here.

Uno) I had the nanobytes in me

Deux) There was a tracker on me

3) I had to go find Derrick

Quatro) I had to get the circuitry out of Derrick

5) I had to go find Jakob and kill him

Six) I had to destroy the Academy

If my nature was to kill, than what would I do? I'm going to kill the Academy, even if it kills me. Kill kill kill kill kill. The whole world was based off of killing, of blood. But I'm not in charge of the world. I'm in charge of myself, and my own future. And no a**-kissing scientist would tell me what to do.

I banked off to the right, slowly taking a look at the bright glow of the burning factory where my past lay. Either I was starting some big-butt forest fire, or it would burn itself out, having no fuel to keep it going. I wrinkled my nose as the acrid smell of burn plastic wafted by. Yummy.

So where could the Flock be now? It'd be great if I could find them, since I'm by myself out here. Although getting back their trust after spazzing out on them one too many times, I might be pushing my luck. So for now I guess I'd go north, towards good ol' Canaday. Just as long as I didn't go on some nanobyte-caused rampage. That might be bad.

The sun was slowly rising as I looked off to the left, and I yawned. Even fainting, I was wiped. I settled down in a prickly tree next to a deserted highway and tucked my wings in. Maybe this place would liven up later during the day. And maybe my pants were polka-dots. I stretched, wiping dried blood from the back of my jeans and curled up on my side. The highway had to lead somewhere. But I could find it later. All I wanted to do was sleep.

Sometime later, I woke up. Dunno what time it was – maybe dark-oh-thirty. Yeah, that sums it up completely. I rolled off the branch and landed on my feet. Call me crazy, but I think I may have a couple cat genes in me. Human-avian-feline hybrid, sure. Though the cat genes may've failed a little, seeing as I couldn't see a gosh darn thing. I know birds have a little night-vision in 'em, but not when there's absolutely no light, that's for certain.

My stomach growled angrily and I groaned. In the middle of nowhere for who knows how freaking long. And the Cro-magnon woman inside me was even ready for a bunny. If I could find one. Stupid stomach. I clutched my torso as the rumbling shook my body like a small earthquake. Gah, Thumper wasn't a meal, not when there was plenty of junk food to eat. And probably steal. But god, a nice juicy hamburger with all the trimmings and a truckload of fries . . . oh stop it, Kari! You're only making yourself hungrier. Ouch. My stomach felt like it was pressed up against my backbone.

I gritted my teeth and began walking. If I walked, I wouldn't be hungry anymore. That was the theory. Then again, I had gotten that from a ditzy knockoff of the original cheerleader movie that was playing on TV. Yeah, Kari, listen to cheerleaders, they'll show you how to survive. Eek, I forgot my hairdryer! Pfft, yeah, survival tactics my a**. I could go really long for without food though. Like that time I went all comatose and tried to kill myself? Uh, that time. I don't even remember eating. Geez. I winced, not wanting to remember that memory. I'd been kinda pigging out the last couple of weeks though. Letting myself get too soft with Max and crew. I winced again. Didn't wanna remember that either. I only had to find them. And get on my knees begging. Then I might get killed by Iggy, and that thing leads to another . . .

Anyways, about the seeing-in-the-dark thing? Not working. I got a flame on one of my fingers and lowered it to the ground. Yellow stripe. I stepped forward. Yellow stripe. Yellow stripe. Crap. That only meant one thing. I'd somehow wandered onto the road. The one long, lone road curving out of this hellhole that I had seen during my flight yesterday. That was good. I just had to make sure I didn't get hit.

Everyone knows that the universe absolutely hates me, right? Good. Then you can probably guess what happened next. Speak of the freaking devil. Honk! A sharp burst on the horn that was attached to the truck headed toward me gave me an aneurism. I turned. Bright, really bright, like, glaring bright, headlights shone in my eyes and believe it or not, I froze like a deer in the same predicament as me. At least until I got those quick wits of mine back. That being screaming. It escalated a couple octaves, finally creating a small explosion on the tire of the truck. It came squealing towards me at double the speed, swerving crazily. I screamed again, whipping out crimson wings, and dove to the side, turning a couple key feathers to bank quickly. I learned that trick from the Flock. Cue bulge in the throat and watering of the eyes. Not the biggest priority though.

I got out of the road quickly enough, whipping my wings out fast from out of the truck's way. No, wait. Scratch that. All except for one leg. That hit the grill with a nice solid thunking noise.

I felt the bone splinter and give. A couple swear words poured out of my mouth. Excruciating pain seared up my nerve endings. And my view was twisting and twirling, due to the motion of my leg breaking in midair. The force sent me spinning off into the ground.

I spit out a mouthful of dirt and carefully tongued my split lip. Face-plants killed. I heard the loud screeching sound stop, realizing with a shock, that the person had regained control of their wheels. That meant they might look for me. I pulled my wings back in faster than you could say 'jack' and put on the injured, innocent look that I have. Hey, it works because I had to eat with this look. It fools the masses easily. Back when I stole stuff to eat before I met the Flock, I had to use this look a lot. Gasp. Me and my criminal record.

A long clanking sound made me guess that the truck had stopped. Now I knew what Iggy used to feel like all the time. I couldn't see anything, my flame extinguished. Dark dark dark. A creeping feeling came up my spine. It felt like I was dead again. The bob of a flashlight was a welcome relief. I carefully assumed the postion on my side that screamed 'OMG-you-just-hit-me-with-your-semi'. That would be incredibly hard to duplicate.

A crunching noise was quickly coming towards me. Someone was actually looking for me, and in a rush too. I pushed myself off the ground slowly, fake-trembling as if it were a huge effort and then wiped the blood off my lip, pretending to look at it in shock. I turned myself over and a real short whimper escaped my mouth. The shin of the leg that got hit was facing the wrong way, and, oh god, there was blood soaking through my charred jeans. I felt sick. I hoped that the bone hadn't broken through the skin. I could deal with blood no problem, but things that usually stayed in the body (i.e. a bone perhaps), deserved to STAY there.

"My god, what in blue blazes?" a man's voice above me exclaimed. Just my luck to get picked up by a trucker. I looked up at the dude through teary eyes, or more accurately, the glare of his flashlight. He swore a blue streak right then and there. The corner of my mouth tweaked up. I was impressed. I didn't even know some of those words, and tucked them away for future reference.

"Hello," he said. I kept the teary look fixed on him. Hopefully this guy was normal. That meant not a perv, not crazy, and definitely not an Eraser.

"Did. You. Come. From. Up. There?" he said slowly and loudly, enunciating each word.

Oh geez, he thought I was an alien or something, didn't he? NOT NORMAL.

"My. Name. Is. Bill," the guy said, "What. Galaxy. Do. You. Come. From?"

I cleared my throat, spitting rust-colored spit onto the ground and put a rasp in my voice, "How about the Milky Way idiot?"

"You're human?" Bill asked.

"You sound disappointed," I glared, "Are you gonna drive me somewhere or what? You know, some kind of payover for hitting me WITH A FREAKING SEMI!"

"You're human," he stated, his brow furrowing.

"Did I stutter?" I spat, "And as much as I'd love to chat with you about your sanity, I kinda need some help, so take it away Billy-boy."

Bill got to his senses, and scooped me off the ground. Great. Maybe I could mooch some food or cash off this guy.

"Are you sure you're not one of those extraterrestrials?" Bill asked.

I rolled my eyes.

"My tire must've blown out," he muttered, "I imagined that explosion, didn't I?"

Sigh.

"But I saw wings of red," he whispered, "On you. How many humans have wings? None."

Ho-hum.

"What in blazes were you doing in the middle of nowhere? A kid?" he muttered again.

Ladida.

"I'm an orphan," I replied, before he could speculate any more, "Why do you think I'm alone? I lost my way."

"The nearest town is 40 miles away," he said, staring me straight in the eyes.

"I'm 16. My car broke further down the road, and I was walking to get help. I was going to another town to shop," I said, lying through my teeth.

"Burned clothing?" the guy asked.

I shrugged, which really hurt. "Uh . . . the truck caught fire," I replied.

Apparently that was a good enough explanation, because Sir Bill Talks-A-Lot wheeled around and started walking to the semi. He dumped me carefully into the front passenger seat.

"Look missy, I'm going to change the tire as quick as a flash," he said, looking into my eyes, "Then I'm gonna drive you to the hospital." I made a face. Ick, hospital. Fear! I'd just skedaddle out of there as soon as he dropped me off then.

I gave a quiet snort as I realized that I'd broken this leg twice in a span of two days. Lovely.

While Mr. Bill went off to change the tire, his hulking shape crouched by the wheel, I stayed there. I could steal from him. I could get money. Then I would be on my way. The further away I was from people, the further away I was from the quack scientists and the nanobytes that were currently swimming around in my body.

I opened the glove compartment quietly and found his wallet. A couple of twenties and a crumpled piece of paper. I turned it around and gulped. It was a photo. Of a little girl with pigtails, a little girl that had red hair and a goofy smile. I felt sick. I couldn't steal from a family man. I shut the compartment again.

I was just about ready to fly away and leave the guy, when he popped back into the cabin.

"As soon as I get you to the hospital, I'm giving you some money, so you can eat and stuff," Bill said elaborately.

I thought fast. "Uh, Bill, good buddy, can I just get some food first?"

"You need medical attention," he replied.

"Medical attention really isn't my top priority right now. I'm gonna die if I don't get some food," I said, languishing against the window. I could get food without stealing. This guy could be a good citizen, you know, feeding the poor with moi. Not giving the poor people me to eat, giving food to a poor person like me, so I could eat. Food food food. That's the only thing I could think of at the moment.

"I'm getting you to a hospital," Bill said sternly. I mentally rolled my eyes. This would be a great time to have Angel the Mind Controller around. Or me just getting another power anyways. Gosh.

Bill gunned the engine and started driving. Great. Now what? Okay, survival of the fittest. What could I do to get out of this?

So I did the most rational thing. I knocked him out.


	82. Chapter 76

Chapter 76

For good measure, when you knock someone out, make sure the car (or semi) is in park. I mean, I've jacked a fair few cars in my time, but handling a semi is totally different. I almost ran us off the road. Also know that you want them to fall to the sides or back if you knock them out. Having their dead, lifeless feet stamping down on the gas is not a good thing. Also know to NOT under ANY circumstances let him fall forward. Heaving an overweight trucker off the wheel and into the passenger seat was not the highlight of my day. And whatever you do, don't let them fall smack-dab on the horn. The sound distracts you from your semi-driving experience. These would be all things to avoid the first time around.

I finally got control of the stupid thing eventually. It's not like I could stop, because moving my leg close to my other BROKEN leg hurt like a mother. So I drove on and on and on until I found a truck stop with a bar next to it. I stomped on the brakes, biting my lip to keep from cursing at the pain that was surging up my leg. It's also a good thing to know not to stomp on the gas as quickly as I did. My forehead hit the windshield with a large crack, making me see stars. Great, just another thing to heal, and I was SO low on energy at the moment. Carefully, I hit the park symbol, holding my forehead. Oh my god, my head hurt. And my leg. I flicked random buttons for what seemed like forever, trying to turn the lights off.

It was finally dark, so any passing people couldn't see the weird girl with the destroyed leg and red wings healing herself. I started humming a slow tune, watching as my vision became less fuzzy and my leg became less mangled. The tissue and bone knitted itself up like magic. Then I searched through the glove compartment until I found a handy-dandy pocketknife. I snapped open the blade and started cutting through my jeans, making a pair of cutoffs that weren't encrusted with blood. I placed the fabric outisde, dropping it out the window, and then screamed shortly. The fabric immediately became incinerated, and the wind blew the ashes away, leaving no trace. And then I waited, idly checking out the rest of the pocketknife and twiddling my thumbs.

It was about time when my good buddy Bill came around. I was going crazy in that cramped cab that smelled definitively male.

"Uh, what happened?" Bill groaned, holding his head.

"You blacked out at the wheel after we parked; I doubt you remember a thing," I shrugged, "Do you know that you're prone to seizures?"

"I remember hitting you with my semi, girly. I broke your leg," he grumbled, "And WHAT about seizures?"

I held my leg up for him to look at. "What about breaking my leg? You picked me up from the side of the road," I fibbed, "I was on my way back from med school; that's how I saved your life during those seizures. Do you know that if you bite your tongue off in a seizure, you'll drown in your own blood?" I smiled, trying to look like I was a know-it-all interested in blood and guts.

"You're a little young to be in med school," Bill replied, not caring that I was FRICKING starving. Healing had totally drained my strength.

"I'm a genius," I said. Yeah Kari, a genius in screwing up.

"I had a seizure," Bill said doubtfully.

"Yeah," I said smoothly, "Lucky you picked me up."

"In the dark," Bill replied, his brow furrowing.

"I had a flashlight, but it died when I was giving you medical treatment," I replied, "Are you going to get me some food or what? I'm starving here. It's the least you can do for my saving your life."

Bill rubbed the side of his head, frowning. He SO didn't believe me. Great. Now what?

"Can you at least drop me off somewhere with a phone so I can call my parents?" I whined, "They're going to be so mad at me! I said that I'd be home by midnight and then my car broke down; they're going to be so worried!"

I saw Bill's eyes soften, changing from disbelief to concern. Yay, family man syndrome.

"The bar has a phone," he said, "And you get yourself something to eat. Just tell them to put it on my tab."

I smirked. I could eat to my heart's content. I just hope this guy knew how much a bird-kid hybrid could pack away.

"Here," Bill said, opening his wallet and handing me one of the crumpled twenties I had been eyeing earlier, "This should get you a phone call."

I reluctantly picked up the twenty, giving him an awkward smile. This was sort of ironic that what I was going to steal was actually given to me. "Erm . . . thanks," I replied, popping open the cabin door, "For everything you've done for me."

"No problem," Bill said, "I have a little girl that's sort of like you." Yeah, I knew from snooping.

Then he smiled at me as I jumped out of the cab. He had a nice smile, a genuine smile. Sort of like Iggy's smile. I know that sounds weird, comparing an overweight, bearded trucker to a bomb-wielding, uber-hot bird-kid, but it was the same type of smile. A real one, not like the fake ones I was constantly giving to keep my butt out of trouble. And it really hurt.

I lied to this guy. I knocked him out. I had almost stolen his money. And he helped me out anyways. How's that for charity?

I waved at Bill as he gunned the engine and began pulling out of the rest stop. Really Bill, thanks for everything.

Then I turned tail and headed into the bar. Although it was almost 1 in the morning, there were still a lot of people around. And they looked surprised to see a teenage girl walk into a bar alone.

I slid into one of the stools up front. "Hey, hey, you got any food around here?" I asked the bartender.

"What, no alcohol?" he asked.

"I'm good, thanks," I replied, making a face.

"We got hamburgers and fries -," he began.

"3 hamburgers and fries," I said.

"I don't think you can eat that much," the bartender said.

I flashed my eyes at him. "Just watch me." I was hungry beyond all belief and now that the comforting smell of charbroiled hamburgers was wafting through the air, I was also sort of angry. "I have the money, I have the stomach capacity, and I'm starving, so GIVE ME FOOD." The bartender shrunk back a little at the tone of my voice.

15 minutes later, I was chomping down on my 2nd hamburger. Everyone was watching me inhale my food like I was some sort of freak. "What?" I growled at the men who were staring at me, "I'm eating."

A sharp, sudden pain near my collarbone made me wince.

'_It's there_,' Inner Kari suddenly said, _'I knew it was somewhere, but I couldn't figure out where until now.'_

"Yeesh, where did you come from?" I asked, taking another monstrous bite of my burger.

'_The deepest recesses of your mind.' _

"And what's where?" I asked, "What's so important that you had to show up? Whenever you pop up, it's like you're the harbinger of bad news, so spit it out."

'_Well, it's not all bad news usually.' _

"And now you're in a pissy mood," I sneered, "Boo-hoo to me."

'_Just shut up," _Inner me replied, _'If you don't want to hear something that might save your life, then by all means, ignore me while you eat your hamburger with spit in it.'_

I choked, coughed for a second. "Wait, what?"

'_I thought you didn't want to listen to me.'_

"Repeat and elaborate!" I said.

'_You were being rude to the bartender, so he spit in your hamburgers before he served them to you. I don't want to say it's your fault, but it really is.'_

I spit out the mouthful of chewed food in my mouth. Disgusting. So that's why every time the bartender passed me, he started snickering. That jerkoff. I waved him over.

"Hey, buddy, c'mere," I said. As soon as he got close enough, I dug my fingers into his smelly shirt and heaved him up.

"When I say I have the money to pay for the food, I expect it to be without questions," I snarled. I threw him up against the wall. "Or SPIT."

'_Very subtle. Is a round of applause required?' _ she snickered as I stalked out of the bar.

"You know, if I could, I'd throw you up against a wall too," I growled.

'_Then you'd be hurting yourself.'_

'Shut up already! Just give me the friggin' message!" I said.

Inner Kari sniffed. _'Fine. Good news is that I know where your tracker is.'_

"What, here?" I asked, clapping a hand over my collarbone, "That's great. Can I chop it out or is it like Max's horror story with her arm tracker?"

'_I dunno, let me check.'_

"System maintenance," I smirked.

'_Yeah, processing, processing.'_

"Get on with it."

'_It can be taken out.'_

"Good. Then you're not always the harbinger of bad luck then."

'_Not really. That pain that you felt was when the chip was activated. The Erasers should be coming soon.'_

"Does that mean that they'll go through that bar?" I asked. I might have not liked the bartender, but that didn't mean that the idiot didn't have to die, because knowing the Erasers, they'd probably kill everyone there, especially if Jakob was in the crew. Crapola.

I concentrated. Maybe I could get the people out of there before the Erasers came. I screamed quietly, and the sky behind me turned faintly red for a second before fading back to black.

'_What did you do?'_ Inner me asked.

"Blew up part of the bar. There's probably a fire too. That should get them out of there," I replied.

'_Wow, you're so nice, blowing up their bar.'_

"Better that than having them die," I said, shaking my head, "Ever since I've been with Iggy, I've turned into such a sap."

'_Think of it as a superhero instead.'_

"Ha ha, save the world Kari," I smiled sadly, "Too bad the fact that I'm a dangerous, world-destroying weapon is looming over my head."

'_The Erasers are 20 miles away,'_ Inner me warned, _'If they get within 10, they can activate the nanobytes in you.'_

"Right. Time to pull an up and away," I said, unfurling my wings like a kite, "Time to find Derrick. And maybe Iggy as a bonus."

'_I know you still love him. Whatever you feel, I feel.'_

"So what if I do? He won't take me back now, whatever the circumstances. Just leave it be, unless you want me to start becoming emo."

'_I'm just . . . really, really sorry Kari. For both of us.' _

"Yeah, me too," I said grimly.

No regret. Not now.

80 miles from the factory still smoldering, 120 miles from Kari and counting, there was a small grove of trees. The glowing ashes of a recently-kindled fire had numerous shapes lying sprawled out around the remaining warmth in sleep. And Fang was on watch. In fact, he had been for ½ the night, ever since he had convinced Max to quit freaking out about Iggy. She needed sleep, and Iggy needed time alone. Everything would work out eventually, right? And Kari's leaving was a sort of clean break for everyone. Though Fang couldn't help missing the weird little redhead that brought such joy to the Igmeister. Only now it was unbelievable pain. And Fang wouldn't wish that on anyone.

He stifled a tired yawn. No sleeping after a hard day of flying was pushing him to exhaustion. Iggy practically sprinted to get away from Kari, 8 hours straight flying, as fast as possible. And now everyone else was getting their rest. He yawned again. Any more of this and there would be no one on watch because he'd be sleeping.

Fang stood up, brushing the dirt off his jeans.

"Ig," he whispered, poking the pale-haired boy's arm, "Can you take watch?"

Iggy's eyes blinked open.

"Fang?" he asked.

"Yeah, Ig, can you take watch before I keel over?" Fang asked again, yawning widely.

Iggy sat up and screamed.


	83. Chapter 77

Chapter 77

"So, first things first," I muttered to myself, "Let's make up a plan."

"_Let's?"_

"Well, I need to get to Derrick and get to him," I mused, "So we'll head due north towards Canada."

"_You need to be at least 25 miles away for them to activate your chip, and 10 miles for the nanobytes."_

"Wow. Max told me that her chip was activateable anytime, anywhere," I said, "What happened with me?"

"_Technically speaking, the scientists were in a rush, so they did a botched job. Also, the Academy didn't, and will never have, the technology that the School is capable of."_

"If I take out the tracker, then they won't be able to find me," I said, "So, can I hack it out?"

"_Probably. And end up slicing an artery with your crap precision skills."_

"Thanks for that," I sighed, looking up at the skies.

"_Look, there's Orion, that manly studmuffin,"_ Inner-me teased.

"Just drop it already," I growled.

"_Somebody's in a pissy mood."_

"I just . . . I hate always having to run. I really do. I hate being someone who is worth more than some people's paychecks. I hate having my fate decided for me. I hate being watched and controlled and stalked every moment of my godforsaken life!" I exclaimed, "Like, for once, could I actually just be safe? And treated like a real person and not property?"

"_What's with the rant?" _ Inner-Kari asked tiredly, _"You and I both know that we don't have any time for this. And I at least know that you never thought about any of this stuff as often as you do now when you were with Max and her Flock."_

"I really really miss them," I admitted, "They seem like my only friends now. I can't handle being alone after spending so much time with them."

There was silence in my brain. Then she started speaking again. _"If you really miss them that much, why not go to find them?"_

"I can't. Derrick is my only remaining Flock member and my brother. I'm going to guess that the Flock flew in the opposite direction in which I'm headed. And since I don't have super-speed like Max, it's just kind of hopeless," I said, "I don't have time right now. But once I find Derrick, bust him out, kill Jakob, and destroy the Academy, I swear I'll dedicate the rest of my life to finding them."

" _All of that at once? What an overacheiver," _Inner-me snorted. Then she sighed. _"I forget that sometimes you're logistical. But you're right, and it's probably for the best."_

"Even if I would kill to see Iggy again," I groaned, "I'm so retarded."

"_Eyes on the prize."_

"Of course," I laughed grimly, "When can I not be?"

Iggy's scream woke up the rest of the Flock quickly.

"Iggy, what's wrong?" Max asked forcefully, shaking his shoulder, "Iggy, talk to me. What's wrong?"

Iggy clung to Max's hand.

"Max. I can't see anymore!" Iggy cried, "I can't see anything!"

"What?" Max yelled, "How the heck could that happen? I thought SHE fixed them for you!"

"She did!" Iggy yelled back, "But now it's gone!"

Fang waved a hand quickly in front of Iggy's face. The wind whiffed against his face, but he didn't even flinch.

"Fang, quit it! I'm blind again, okay?" Iggy replied angrily.

"Do you think she could have taken his sight away?" Fang asked.

"How should I know?" Max replied gruffly, running a hair through her hair in frustration, "She has freaky healing powers that I don't know about!"

"Ones that saved your life," Fang stated quietly.

"Yeah, ones that saved my life, but I still don't have to like it," Max growled, "Plus, Iggy was blind before, it's not like it would be hard to revert, right?"

"Oh yeah, and welcome back the suckiness of life," Iggy said, angrily, sitting up and walking off with his hands in his pockets, "Woohoo, no more colors! Oh hell YES, THIS IS GREAT!"

"Nice job Max," Fang sighed, "I'll go get him."

Fang walked off, following Iggy, leaving Max surrounded by the 3 younger members of the Flock. Max ran her hands through her hair again, clearly pissed.

"We're, uh, gonna go back to bed Max," Nudge said quietly, "'Night again." She shepherded off the brother and sister back towards the campfire.

Max ran a hand through her hair, AGAIN, jabbing her fingers into her scalp. She grit her teeth. Just when had they allowed Kari to become so deeply involved with all of them?


	84. Chapter 78

Chapter 78

"I . . . am so tired," I yawned, "Are we far away enough yet?" My wings flapped lethargically, keeping me only a couple hundred feet up.

"_A couple more miles. Then we'll hit Chicago, I believe."_

"Alright," I said, "The home of deep-dish pizzas and Chicago-style hot dogs. I'm in heaven."

"_Trust you to rely on your stomach."_

"I haven't eaten in the last 24 hours. Give me a break," I replied.

A pause.

"_We're going to have to steal again, aren't we?"_

I sighed. "With no money, yes, yes we have to," I murmured.

Silence.

I yawned again, dropping a couple of feet downwards. At this rate, there was no way I would get to Chicago without falling out of the sky. I pinched myself. Ow. Okay, slightly more awake.

Soon afterwards, the glow of the suburbs light up the sky beneath me. I focused on the setting. No, not here. It wasn't rough and tough enough for my stealing not to get noticed.

I swooped up higher so I wouldn't get dinged for being a UFO or something and set my sights on the skyscrapers in the distance. I was there in a few minutes and settled on a rooftop. I looked around. I wasn't in the bad part of town, but neither was I in the good. A involuntary smirk came to my face. Perfect.

I hadn't sparred with Erasers or anything in a couple of days now. I sort of missed that adrenaline rush, and I still remembered the head rush I had had when I stole. Not like it was a good thing, but still.

A convenience store's neons blared up at me. I checked the moon. It was probably around 2 in the morning. Ah, the night-shift. I worked out the kinks in my shoulders and jumped off the rooftop. The wind carried the smell of smoke and exhaust as it blew past my face. I landed with a loud 'wham' on the roof, wincing as my knees took the force of the blow. Yup, I'd being feeling THAT in the morning.

I slid down the drainpipe of the store and hit the gray concrete running. I crashed though the store's windows with an almighty smashing sound, did a neat roll, and slid behind a rack holding many things that looked useful. I popped up again, wielding the pocketknife I had snatched from my good buddy Trucker Bill. In a flash, I was up at the cashier's station, holding the knife against the clerk's jugular. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I would have killed him, but a little fear in everyone's daily lives doesn't really hurt.

The cashier gazed at me with frightened doe-eyes, trembling.

"Please," she whimpered, "Please don't kill me. I have to take care of my children. Just take the money. Take it!" Tears poured down the terrified woman's face.

Oh no.

All the adrenaline I had had when I first came through that window disappeared in an instant. I relaxed my stance, and slightly, so very slightly, took the blade away from her throat. This wasn't what I had planned.

"Look," I said roughly, "I just need some provisions. I won't harm you." The lady swiveled around and looked at me as though I were her guardian angel.

"Thank you," she blubbered, wiping her face on her shirtfront, "Thank you."

I shifted uncomfortably. "So, uh, if I could grab some food and just a little bit of that cash, I'll be on my way."

"You're homeless, aren't you? You've never had a home, never had a family," the woman said, finishing the dabbing at her eyes.

"I suppose," I replied awkwardly.

"Well, let me help you," she said eagerly, snatching a brand-new backpack off a display. She opened the front pocket and stuffed in some bills.

"Wait, wait," I said, "Hold your horses. That isn't going to work."

She glanced at me, confused.

"As much as I appreciate you being a good Samaritan, you'll need some way to explain that window," I gestured guiltily, "Just say I robbed the place."

"I could never do that," she said.

"Look lady, here's the deal. You probably live close to here, right?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Okay," I said, scooping the rest of the wads of cash out of the register, "I'm gonna drop this off at your place, so they'll think I robbed the store."

"No, they'd know," she replied frantically, "And I couldn't steal from my boss!"

I fought the twin urges to take all the cash in my hand for myself and run and to roll my eyes. "Lady, you have kids. It costs a lot to keep them happy. Just tell me someplace to store the money away from here so you can retrieve it and use it on your family. Get it, got it, good," I explained.

She let loose a single nod of her head, disbelieving.

"Now look, as soon as I leave, call 911," I said, "And LIE. If you want to live in this world, you must SURVIVE before all else." I took the money and backpack filled with food from her. "Where do you want me to hide this?"

"1015 North Draymont Street, Apartment 235. That's my brother. He's trustworthy," the woman said automatically, "Give me your knife for a second." I handed it over, confused. I watched as the woman willingly cut a thin line of red over her throat. I gaped at her.

"The police won't believe me otherwise," she said, handing me back my knife as the blood welled up and hit her shirt collar.

I grinned. "Now you're thinking."

"Now go," the woman said, handing me the backpack, "Fly away."

I could have kissed her.

Instead I decided to shock her and opened my wings a little.

"Bless you, you are an angel," she said, astonished and awestruck.

I smiled sheepishly, "Gotta go."I high-tailed it out the door with money in my hand and a heavy backpack with me.

I dropped the money off where the lady said I should. A short-set man opened the door, accepted the money, and closed the door, no questions asked. So I had done something good for someone else today.

I flew back to the top of the skyscraper above the convenience store, watching the red and blue lights flash below me. Laughter poured out my lips. I sat back and munched on some Twinkies thoughtfully. So it hadn't gone according to plan, but it had gone well enough. I smiled, vanilla filling probably on my face.

"_Danger," _Inner Kari suddenly warned. I jumped to my feet, squinting as six gliding outlines breached out around the stars. What could it be? More flying Erasers? I narrowed my eyes. No. It couldn't be. Erasers weren't that skinny and agile.

Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, and Total landed on the rooftop next to me.

"Kari," Max said, "We finally found you again." I launched myself at them, tears brimming in my eyes into a group hug.

"Guys," I wailed.

A tap on my shoulder.

"Iggy!" I exclaimed, enfolding myself in his familiar arms, "Iggy."

Max II smiled. Everything was going absolutely flawless.


	85. Chapter 79

Chapter 79

"I missed you guys so much!" I cried, snuffling into Iggy's shoulder, "I thought I would never see you again I was so worried!"

"Yeah, well, this one had to see you again," Max teased, ruffling Iggy's hair.

"Quit that!" he said ignorantly, a blush staining his face. Aw. I smiled and then bit my lip to hide it. However, a more pressing matter needed to be attended to.

"You guys came back for me? After what I did?" I asked in disbelief, clinging to Iggy like a lifeline.

Max gave me a half-smile, tossing her hair over her shoulder in her familiar way, "I've told you – birdkids stick together. No matter what."

"I just – I'm so sorry Iggy," I pleaded, "I was confused. I know I broke your heart when I kissed Aero." I hugged myself to him as though I could seep forgiveness through our combined bodies. "But I know I've got to let go of my past, free my memories of my old Flock – I've got to lay them to rest."

"I don't expect you to take me back right away," I murmured into his ear, "But I would be honored if or when you do." I slid my fingers through his hair, feeling the silk in it.

"I will," Iggy replied, "Eventually." I felt him smile against my cheek.

"We brought dinner," Fang murmured. I glanced down at my small pile of sugary-goodness.

"Then I have dessert," I chuckled, feeling like my heart was ten times lighter, "Who wants a Dingdong?"

MAX'S POV

"How exactly will we find where Kari is, Max?" Nudge asked quietly, brushing her wingtips against mine as we flew.

"Kiddo," I sighed, running my fingers through my hair worriedly for the kazillionth time, "I don't know. I just don't know."

We were on our way to find Kari. No, I was not joking. Somehow, before I knew what was happening, Iggy had taken ahold of this little operation and we were going to find Kari. His justification was that he wanted his eyesight back. Not like any of us believed that. At all.

And if the questions kept coming to me when I had NO FREAKING CLUE what we were doing, I would be bald. Soon.

All anyone here knew was that Kari was going to find Derrick. Personally, I hated the dumb-butt, but we were going to help until we parted ways. Now we just had another objective to finding him. We find him, we find Kari.

I just hoped she wouldn't do anything stupid before we got there. Anything more and Iggy would go ballistic. This was worse than the time he found his real parents. But love always hurts.

I smirked in Fang's direction nostalgically. We were a prime example once upon a lifetime ago.

Currently we were headed north, following our internal compasses. Why? Dunno. But north sounded good. So north we went.

Hopefully we'd find her soon.


End file.
